THE 2021 Waratah League season will mark the start of a new era for the Shoalhaven Tigers division two men's side.
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After COVID-19 put an end to their season before it even started, this year will be the black and golds' maiden in the Shoalhaven Indoor Sports Centre.
On top of that, after four years under the watchful eye of coach Ian Ozolins, the team has a new leader.
That man is Ben Bagoly.
Originating from Port Kembla, Bagoly played both basketball and Australian Football growing up, before eventually transitioning into coaching the former once leaving school.
His first coaching gig was as an assistant with the Illawarra under 12s boys in 2015, before gradually working his way up the ranks before teaming up with John Hargreaves and his youth league men's outfit.
"John is a coaching legend around the Illawarra community and it was great for my career to be able to learn off him," Bagoly said.
"He's a hard coach, that gets the best out of his players - everyone I speak to about him has nothing but praise for him.
"I ended up taking over from him as head coach of the youth men's side, but we still chat all the time and he's a great mentor for me on my coaching journey."
During this time, Bagoly, who previously worked in the mines, started study sports coaching and administration at the University of Wollongong.
This led to him doing an internship with the Western Sydney Wanderers, where he learnt the importance of video analysis in sport.
Before too long, he was back working on the hardwood, taking on a technical assistant role on Matt Flinn's Illawarra Hawks' NBL staff - where he primarily did all the club's video work.
Following that season, the Hawks brought in a whole new coaching regime under Brian Goorjian, which saw Bagoly return to mentoring junior Illawarra sides at the Snakepit.
But with no senior roles on offer, Bagoly looked elsewhere for a position - which led him down the Princes Highway.
"Shoalhaven Basketball Association's John Martin reached out to me and after a couple of chat and interviews, they offered me the role of men's coach," the 30-year-old said.
"But before I accepted, I wanted to know about the buy-in from the players, which is especially important at senior level.
"I didn't want to commit to a team that was just happy making up the numbers, I wanted a side that wants to roll up their sleeves and have a crack.
"I'd seen this Tigers team play before and they've obviously got a fair bit of talent there - which made me excited about what they could achieve in this league.
"After getting the backing of the players and the board, I signed on and we've been rolling since then."
As Bagoly alludes to, his Tigers, who'll have the experienced Kev Campbell as assistant coach once again, have been training twice a week since late January in preparation for April 10's season opener on the road against the Central Coast Waves.
"Having the year off meant we had to work extra hard at the start to get everyone's fundamental skill up to a high standard once again," he said.
"It didn't take long for the boys to get back that basketball touch and conditioning where it needed to be, which has allowed us to get up and down the court and play a fair bit, which has been really positive.
"We're all really enjoying it at the moment."
Returning from the 2019 Tigers' squad are Tom and Bruce Ozolins, Tim Hanlon, Billy Campbell, Dane Jensen, Nick Bizjak, Lachlan Crowe, Ben Morris
With Bagoly's side also featuring new additions Brayden Morris, Jeremy Harding, Trent Hilaire (who have all made the step up from the Tigers' youth league men's side) Sam Balfour, Austin Collings and Joel Lahene.
"We've got some really nice pieces in our group and I'm excited to see how they continue to grow once the games start - especially getting the chance to play on our new floor for the first time," Bagoly, who admits will use their lack of size to their advantage in 2021, said.
"Obviously over the past few seasons, the core of this squad has been relatively successful but never quite been able to get over that hump.
"With the foundations those boys and Oz [Ian Ozolins] have built during that time, it's made my transition into the role easier and allowed me to just tweak a few aspects of the boys' games.
"Offensively, especially on the fast-break, our squad is as dangerous as anyone, so my big aim has been on the defensive end and getting everyone to buy in - I've always been a big advocate that defence wins games.
"In my eyes, this team can go as far as it wants to go - if we rip in each week and hold ourselves accountable, there's no reason we can't challenge for the championship.
"It's a tough league, with nine teams who can beat each other on any given night.
"We know that's a long way away though and realise we need to earn everything and make plenty of sacrifices as individuals and a team if we want to achieve those lofty goals."
Bagoly isn't just doing work with the senior Tigers though, with him holding a school holiday camp at the Shoalhaven Indoor Sports Centre.
In the second week of the school holidays, Bagoly and former Hawks Oscar Forman and Matt Flinn will host a two-day clinic on April 12 and 13.
The other Shoalhaven team to hit the hardwood this Saturday will be Ben Morris' youth league men's division two side.
They are also on the road in round one, playing the Illawarra Hawks from 2pm at the Snakepit.
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