Wollongong Hawks

The Wollongong Hawks are a team competing in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL), based in the New South Wales city of Wollongong. They won the NBL championship in 2001 and finished as runners-up in 2005. The team's home venue is the Wollongong Entertainment Centre (WEC), known as "The Sandpit" within the NBLcite web | publisher = Wollongong Hawks | title=Venue Details | url = http://www.hawks.com.au/default.aspx?s=venue
accessdate = 2008-08-31 ] .

History

The Hawks are the only remaining NBL club to have competed in every season since the league's inception in 1979 without relocating to another city. The club was originally known as the Illawarra Hawks, the name referring to the Illawarra region rather than specifically its major urban centre Wollongong. The name change took place after the 1998 season; the team also adopted a new logo and moved to the WEC.

Previous to 1998 the Hawks played out of "The Snakepit" in Gwynneville (A suburb of Wollongong close to the city centre). The Snakepit had a reputation among players and coaches as one of the most feared venues in the league. Despite being only small (Capacity 1,800), the fans were packed in close to the action making for an awesome atmosphere. Local supporters were known to lean over from the bar at the southern end of the court and shake the ring and even sometimes throw beer on opposition players as they entered the changeroom. The Snakepit is still in use by the Hawks as a training venue and for preseason matches.

During the 2007/2008 season, the Hawks experienced significant financial difficulty and as a result the team nearly was forced to withdraw prior to the completion of the season. A community ownership plan is was developed, the Friends of the Hawks, along the lines of the Green Bay Packers of the American NFL [ [http://www.hawks.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=73818 Wollongong Hawks > News ] ] .

Honour Roll

[ [http://www.hawks.com.au/default.aspx?s=history Wollongong Hawks > Inside the Hawks > History ] ]

Club MVP

*1989 Norman Taylor
*1990 Norman Taylor
*1991 Norman Taylor
*1992 Doug Overton
*1993 Melvin Thomas
*1994 Melvin Thomas
*1995 Melvin Thomas
*1996 Terry Johnson
*1997 Clayton Ritter
*1998 Clayton Ritter
*1999 CJ Bruton
*2000 Glen Saville & Melvin Thomas
*2001 Glen Saville
*2002 Melvin Thomas
*2003 Glen Saville
*2004 Glen Saville
*2005 Glen Saville
*2006 Cortez Groves
*2007 Adam Ballinger
*2008 Kavossy Franklin

Source: [http://www.hawks.com.au www.hawks.com.au]

Current roster

References

External links

* [http://www.nbl.com.au Official National Basketball League Website]
* [http://www.hawks.com.au Official Website of the Wollongong Hawks]