The re-named Medway Park Crusaders Basketball Club has re-signed experienced wing-player Sam Betts and he has accepted the role of team captain after Pete Ayling stepped down after two successful years on the post.

Betts is entering his fourth season as a Crusader and he has proven himself as an excellent player and a leader on and off the court. In his first couple of seasons with the club Betts struggled to shake off the effects of micro-fracture knee surgery, but over the last 18 months he has emerged as one of the most talented scorers on the floor, and a team leader off the floor, where he won last year’s Players Player club award.

“Sam is someone you can trust to come out and give a steady performance game after game”, says Crusaders head coach Mads Olesen”, and he is not afraid to step up and take responsibility either. Be that responsibility of taking the big shots or making defensive stops, or the responsibility of letting his teammates know if they’re not performing well enough, and that’s exactly the qualities you’re looking for in a captain”.

Betts is a key piece of the puzzle of creating a squad that’s better than the one that won a club best fifth place in National League Division 2 last year, and Betts is looking forward to the challenge: “I feel very proud to be given the captaincy a role that means a great deal to me and one that I take very seriously. The players the club have signed already stand us in good stead and hopefully we can make a few more so we can make a push for promotion this year.

“It is a very exciting time to be a Crusader not only because of the move to Medway Park but also with the young talent we have coming up through the junior system as well as the Crusaders Academy at Canterbury High School. I hope to see some contributions to the men’s team this season from some of the juniors who I have had the privilege to coach at the academy over last few years.

“I’m very excited to be back with Crusaders for my fourth year, especially with the move to Medway Park which should be one of the top venues for basketball in the country! I will be sad to leave Canterbury, but I hope the loyal fans will make the trip up the m2 to carry on their fantastic support. I look forward to playing to a packed house in our first game at Medway Park.”

Crusaders club president Jesse Sazant is looking forward to having Betts on board again: “I am delighted that Sam has returned to Crusaders. His basketball IQ, passion and shooting will be great assets for next season. As he has returned to full health he has shown the vital role he can play for us. Sam fully deserves his role as men’s captain. He has shown real leadership both verbally and by example over the last few years.”

Pete Ayling, club captain over the last two years decided to step aside earlier in the year: “It has been a real privilege to have played over 100 games for the Crusaders and to have been the Captain for the last 2 years. I’ve played in some great games, played with great players and made life long friends. I will be travelling the world from January and so the time was right to step aside and let our young talent shine, particularly as I was playing basketball before some of them were born. Thanks to all those who have given support through thick and thin. I will be around to support the team and show that I’m not quite over the hill yet.”

Betts is a coach at the Crusaders Academy at Canterbury High School Sports College, and also runs his own coaching company, SPB Coaching.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 7:27 am and is filed under General Basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.