Harber and Merrington bid farewell to programme at Loughborough Uni and Charnwood College

LEICESTER Riders coaches Matthew Harber and Josh Merrington are moving on from the club following great success on both the women’s and men’s programmes respectively.

Harber will move on from the club following eight seasons as a coach with the club, having been instrumental to the growth and progression of the Riders Women’s programme.

He took the helm in Division Two National League, leading the team to the Play-Off Championship title, as well as promotion to NBL Division One in which the team again progressed to take the Play-Off title.

Harber said: “It’s hard to summarise in words the experiences I’ve had whilst being at Loughborough University and Leicester Riders. I’ve been fortunate enough to be part of a huge transformation and movement in our basketball programme.

“Leicester were the first organisation to believe in me and made my dreams a reality of becoming a full time basketball coach. That gave me the confidence to achieve all that I have and I will never forget that.

“I want to thank all the staff, volunteers and players who have been part of this amazing journey, who have offered so much to my life during the past eight seasons.

“I will continue to follow the progress and success of our amazing programme and I wish everyone the best of luck for the 2017-18 season and beyond.”

Merrington also leaves the programme following a highly successful three seasons as head coach at Charnwood College Academy, helping them to an EABL Championship and an expansion to two teams at Charnwood College. Merrington also assisted the BBL team on route to back-to-back BBL Championships as well as a treble winning season this season in the BBL.

He said: “I’ve had an incredible three years working with the Leicester Riders and Charnwood College. I will look back on my time here with a lot of fond memories and the club will always hold a special place in my heart.

“I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all the staff at the club and also the players that I have worked with for making my time here so enjoyable. I wish the club every success for the future and I look forward to following its progress.”

Managing Director Russell Levenston thanked both the staff for their time in the programme and added: “We wish Matt and Josh all the best in their future careers and thank them greatly for their time with us.

“The women’s programme has developed form a small BUCS team to a thriving WBBL, University and Academy programme thanks to the tireless work of Matt and his staff. Meanwhile our AASE Academy has established itself among the elite in the UK with Josh at the helm.

“We are excited to follow their progress in their next roles and also about the opportunities for new staff this coming season as we continue to strive forwards as a programme.”