Brad Chalmers believes there are good times ahead for the Albury-Wodonga Bandits after announcing his retirement as men's head coach.
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The 47-year-old led the club for 10 years, winning two conference titles but also experiencing lean times as the Bandits battled to punch above their weight in NBL1.
Chalmers vacates the position as the Bandits move across to play in the inaugural NBL1 East competition against Bankstown Bruins, Canberra Gunners/Nationals, Central Coast Crusaders, Hills Hornets, Illawarra Hawks, Inner West Bulls, Maitland Mustangs, Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, Newcastle Basketball, Norths Bears and Sutherland Sharks.
"It's a new era and a new opportunity so I thought it was the perfect time for us to look at that succession plan," Chalmers said.
"We put some time and effort into my assistant coaching panel over the last little bit and I think the time was right from a club standpoint and my own personal situation.
"We're in a good space and we've managed the pandemic really well.
"A lot of clubs in our league have done it tough because they're funded by their association so if they're not playing games and the kids aren't playing, they've lost money whereas we're more of a sponsorship model and the club's done a really good job of managing that.
"We're in a good spot to compete again and I'm really looking forward to being off the court and trying to help make some things happen in the background that enable the teams to be successful.
"I see the future being bright. The associations locally are working hard to develop kids to come through to the program so as long as all of that stays the same, and there's plenty of work being done at grassroots level, basketball's got a bright future here on the Border."
Chalmers has been involved with the club as a player and coach for almost 25 years but nothing compares to the challenges COVID has thrown up over the past 18 months.
"It was pretty tough," he admitted. "We didn't get anything last year and this year, we only played half a season so it was pretty challenging to keep everyone motivated.
"That had a small impact on my decision but overall we got through it well. Our exit interviews with all the men's playing group were positive around the fact we were able to navigate through some choppy waters and everyone had a smile on their face at the end of it.
"That was the greatest outcome we could have achieved; no-one was burnt out and no-one was over it or not loving the game any more."
As for his time coaching the Bandits, Chalmers took the rough with the smooth.
"It's been fantastic and it's been challenging," he reflected.
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"We've been a small regional club going up against some really big associations in the metropolitan part of Melbourne and some of the country clubs like Bendigo, Ballarat and Geelong, significant regional cities with lots of resources so we've always been the little brother.
"It's been difficult at times to try to challenge with significantly different budgets but it's also made it exciting, seeing how we can compete with them.
"We've had some success doing that and there's been some other years where it's caught up with us and we haven't been able to get the right product on the floor.
"But we've always had a mantra of trying to marry that off with giving local talent a chance to play at this level and I think we've done that in a pretty positive way.
"We've always had people coming through the system locally. Some stick, some don't and that's to be expected when you're trying to play at the highest level our club can play at.
"It's been an enjoyable ride and I think we got a lot out of it. We know who we are and we're not trying to be something we're not.
"It's been a long time between drinks over the years, in terms of success, because we've only won a couple of championships. I'm lucky I've had two of them in my time and I'm really proud of that.
"It's a weekly battle and it adds up at times. It feels like you're pushing a rock up a hill but you've got to embrace that grind and get competitive about that.
"I always wanted to take that challenge head-on."
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