The Medway Park Crusaders will open their inaugural season in EBL1 this coming weekend with a double header.

Saturday sees the Crusaders begin their National Trophy campaign with a daunting trip to Reading.  The National Trophy is a secondary competition between EBL1 teams, mostly played at the start of the year.  It sees all teams in EBL1 split into two groups where they play each other once.

The top 4 teams in each group progress to the quarterfinal stage, where the competition becomes a single knockout tournament.  The Crusaders find themselves in a group with Reading Rockets, Bradford Dragons, London Leopards, Derby Trailblazers and London Capitals.

The Reading Rockets are one of the most established and respected clubs in England, having won numerous titles and trophies in the EBL.  Last season they won both the National Trophy and EBL1 play-offs.  Crusaders Coach James Vear knows this will be a stern test for his team,

“I don’t think it gets much harder than playing Reading in the first game of the season.  I think they are one of the best coached and best organised teams in the country and we will have to be at our best to get a win.  We are also excited about testing ourselves and seeing how good our team could be.”

Crusaders new captain is looking forward to his first competitive game as captain and matching up against former teammate Robbie Parker.  Harris became the highest career scorer in Crusaders history last season, eclipsing the total previously held by Parker.

“I’m looking forward to our game against Reading as it’s our first game in division 1 and because it’s against Rob.  It should be a good indication of how we will do in the league.”

New signing Luke Baker is also anxious to get started, “I’m looking forward to playing my first competitive game for Medway Park.  It’s going to be a tough game but the way we have prepared in practice and our performance in the pre-season tournament makes me believe we can compete with the strongest teams in the league.”

On Sunday, the Crusaders play their first home game of the season at Medway Park when they host the Hackney White Heat in the opening round of the National Cup.  The game will tip-off at 3:00PM with tickets available on the door, £4 for adults and £2 concessions.

Hackney have a long history of success established by the legendary Joe White.  The men’s teams has fluctuated between division recently and are currently in EBL3.

Due to playing a lower division team Crusaders will be limited to one import only so Coach Vear faces a decision between using Adran Fenyn or Joe Schow for the game.  He is making sure they don’t underestimate their opponents, “They are a great club and have had some great teams over the years.  When I played youth basketball they were the team to beat with the legendary Joe White at the helm.  We will not be taking this game lightly and will have to play well to come away with a win.”

The game will also see Crusaders new signing Damoy Robertson face his former junior club for the first game.  Robertson is ready for the challenge, “Like all London teams they will be aggressive defensively and have a never say die attitude.  We have to approach the game like any other and not focus on them being a Division 3 team.”

The Crusaders squad has received an additional boost with last year’s captain Sam Betts returning to the squad.  Betts has overcome numerous injuries over the last few seasons and is now ready to commit to another season.  He expressed his feelings about returning to Crusaders saying, “I’m obviously very happy to be with the squad after a summer of contemplating. The team looks very balanced, both imports look excellent and we have added some very good English players to add to last year’s team.  I’m looking forward to an exciting division 1 campaign.”

Vear is excited to have Betts back in the team, “Sam was an instrumental part of the team last year.  After taking medical advice to rest over the off season, he has come back to practice injury free and is getting back to match fitness.  I am sure with his work ethic he will be right there soon and will be an important player for us.”

The Crusader tuned up for the season by hosting their first invitational tournament.  The tournament featured teams from across England competing at U14, 16, 18 and senior men.  The men finished 2nd in the tournament, picking up wins against last season’s EBL1 league champions Bristol Academy Flyers (55-45) and EBL1 rivals London Leopards (67-56) before falling 85-71 to US Select in their final game.  US Select are a travelling American team who former Crusader OJ Reed represented.

Coach Vear thought the tournament was good preparation for the upcoming season saying, “This weekend really illustrated things we do well and things we need to improve on.  Another good week of practice will see us ready for the challenge.”

Harris was also really pleased with the weekend, “Our main focus was to beat Bristol and Leopards.  It was a good confidence booster for us to see that we can beat some of the better teams from last year.  It was great to see us as a team who haven’t been together very long playing so unselfishly together.”

The Crusaders U16s also fell just short, losing in the final to Solent Kestrels after two convincing wins.  The U18s accounted very well for themselves with a win over Worthing and 2 close losses.  Finally, the U14s and 15s gained valuable experience of national league basketball losing some close games as they prepare for the season.