Stewart keen to nurture youth

Chargers coach returns

IT MAY have been the worstkept secret in Tasmanian basketball but Hobart Chargers coach Anthony Stewart has finally put pen to paper on a new deal for 2023 but has warned fans not to expect another championship this year.

The former Tassie Devils NBL star and highly respected coach led the Chargers to an NBL1 South title last season but said he now wanted the direction of the club to be about building the basketball stars of tomorrow.

“It’s a new direction for the club. It won’t be about winning championships it will be about investing time into the young guys in particular and trying to get them up to speed and giving them the opportunities I had as a kid,” Stewart said.

“We want to put more time on the floor for the younger age group.

“There is going to be a lot of 17 and 18 year olds this year and I want to be very clear from the start that it won’t be a championship-calibre team.

“It’s going to be an investment into these young kids and their development.”

While Stewart said they were in the midst of recruiting a number of players for next season, he stressed they would have a high focus on Tasmanian talent.

“It’s the only reason I came back (the new direction). It’s a great chance for everyone and we really want the community to get behind this one.

“The win-loss column will take a hit this year but I look at Kilsyth and they really changed the way I want to operate,” Stewart said.

“Their junior programs and what they’ve put on the floor the last few years, they are very competitive now and they are mostly juniors that have come up through the ranks.”

“Scott Roth (Tasmania JackJumpers coach) has made it very clear that there are no Tasmanians good enough right now in the south to be playing (for the) JackJumpers so I feel like it’s our job to try and create that.”

While Stewart was hopeful JackJumpers players Sam McDaniel and Jarred Bairstow would return to help guide the club’s new direction, he said Brisbane Bullets big man Harry Froling was not a part of their plans and they were unsuccessful in signing fellow JackJumper Sean MacDonald, who has signed with Darwin.

The Chargers kick off their season on April 1 against archrivals the North West Thunder and the Launceston Tornadoes in Ulverstone.