Hornsby set to make a mark in NBL1 East

By NBL Media

The Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders are one of the brand new teams in the NBL1 East this coming season. 

Board President Sharad Shafaghi explained that the passion of the club and the strength of their junior program was the reason they made it into the NBL1. 

“Last season’s NBL1 (East) was a win for New South Wales in general," he said.

“It got a lot of excitement out there for it, pretty much everybody from under 12s, to youth league and the Waratah League. Everybody got a taste for it, everybody had a passion for it and everybody (in Hornsby) wanted it. 

“But all of us really just want to give all our members a pathway to the top, and give them the opportunity to see their way through from under 12s to NBL1. That's our goal, in maybe four, five, six years down the track to have somebody in our under 14 side playing in our NBL1 side, or even our whole under 14 sides being our NBL1 teams.” 

The Spiders' closest rivals will be the Hills Hornets and the Norths Bears in the NBL1 East, their junior competitions have always seen them as the underdogs. But Shafaghi explained that mentality will carry over into the NBL1 East. 

“They’ve always been friendly rivals, we’ve always been the little big guys in the field because we have Norths to one side and the Hills to the other and they are both exceptionally large associations,” he said. 

“So, we're always being considered a little big guy in that group, so it'd be nice to kind of get out there and really put the effort out. We don't hate anybody, but we always like to win.” 

Hornsby has seen its fair share of talent come up through its ranks, Tasmania JackJumper’s sharpshooter Jarrad Week and the Bendigo Spirit’s development player Alana Goodchild were both Spiders juniors. 

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Shafaghi explained that the Spiders are ready to take on the NBL1 East, having almost everything they need to be one of the key clubs this season coming. 

“[We know] that we are good enough to be in this league,” he said

“We have the backing, we have the administrative ability, we have the talent pool, we have the membership base coming through and we have the programs in place.

He explained that unlike some clubs, the Spiders do not own the courts they’ll be playing on – making court hire and the administrative factors around it one of their biggest challenges this season. 

All NBL1 clubs rely on their volunteers' support, and the Spiders will be no different. Shafaghi said that their social media following and club members have supported the club throughout the process, and said their support will help take their new club to the next level for the 2023 NBL1 East season. 

The Spiders plan to make an impact and set their tone in the league early. Shafaghi explained one of the key goals is to embody their core values on the court in their inaugural NBL1 season.

“Our big push is to encourage our four pillars of what we are trying to achieve as an organisation. Quality, consistency, encouragement and enjoyment. That’s the culture we want to build, we want players to be the best that they can be,” he said. 

“In the end, we're not necessarily going to come out in our first year, you know, go straight to the national finals and winning championships, maybe we will, who knows! 

“But we want people to really enjoy it and buy into it. Really understand that it is fun to be involved in it. Will we win a championship someday, of course, but we want to make sure we're having fun getting there.”