New Sunshine Coast Phoenix coach and general manager Dale Ryan is bringing a world of experience to the local basketball scene, after a “confronting” stint in COVID-stricken Spain.
The 45-year-old was headhunted by the state league club after he returned to Australia during the off-season and he’s now settling into his new roles.
Ryan appears to be a significant signing by the Maroochydore-based club.
A former Victorian league player, the Melbourne product switched to coaching 20 years ago and became the Basketball Queensland High Performance network coach.
He coached Northside in the state competition, impressing to earn a role as assistant coach with the Brisbane Bullets.
When the Bullets disbanded from the NBL in 2008, he took on the coaching role at Brisbane Capitals. Ryan then filled several management and coaching positions in Victoria.
But in early 2017, Ryan spread his wings and went to England, where he was with the University of Worcester, was director of basketball at British league club Worcester Wolves and was national program manager for 3×3 basketball.
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He went to Spain in 2018, where his company Assist Basketball worked with world-class club Valencia Basket.
But his tenure there was cut short because of the impacts of COVID-19, which hit Spain hard.
“The plan in 2020 was to roll out a host of different concepts around player and coach development and looking at bringing players from Europe to Australia and vice versa, for basketball and cultural experience,” he said.
“Unfortunately, because of COVID a lot of our projects were put on hold.”
“We put everything on hold, hoping it (the virus) might be something that passed by in a few months but as we know, it’s been nearly a year now.”
Ryan said the pandemic was challenging in Spain.
The country was among the first to be affected and has since amassed more than 3.15 million cases and more than 71,000 deaths.
“It was very confronting,” he said.
Fear of unknown in Spain
“In those early stages there was an element of fear, a fear of the unknown.
“We spent 16 weeks in lockdown. I’ve got a wife and two young kids and we couldn’t leave the house (except for essential reasons). There was a lot of uncertainty.
“But it was a chance for us to spend more time with our kids and then things settled and summer came, with tourism, and going into August we started to see a spike again.
“That’s when we decided it wasn’t something that was just going to go away. It was going to be an issue and it was going to impact our projects for possibly a year or more, so we made the decision to come home.
“Initially, we just saw it (the impact of the virus) on TV but then you know someone who knows someone with it … and then just recently I’ve had five or six friends get it, and their parents.
“One day they’re getting tested and three days later they’re in a coma and on a ventilator in an ICU unit.
“It (the virus) is real, and I don’t think a lot of people (in Australia) understand how bad it is. Many of them have been sheltered by it.
“We persevered as long as we could (in Spain) but it got to a stage financially that it wasn’t making much sense and also we needed to probably feel a bit safer.
“What’s happening back here made the decision easier.
“It’s virtually non-existent (in Australia) but my friends back in Europe have told me it got worse after we left, so we know we made the right decision.”
Getting home was an ordeal in itself.
‘It was hectic, the move from overseas,” he said.
“There was a lot of uncertainty about getting home, with border restrictions and the amount of people being allowed to come into the country.
“It was very difficult. It took us nearly four months to get home from our initial stage of booking flights.
“We had probably 10 flight cancellations and working out what life was going to look like.”
He’s now based on the Sunshine Coast, but will continue to work remotely with Valencia Basket, and is about to start an online coaching portal.
Aussie talent in hot demand
Ryan is also a recruitment/scout for a couple of NBA teams.
He keeps an eye on mainly NBL talent.
“Interest in them has heightened during the last 4-5 years, with the quality of players coming out of Australia,” he said.
“And I think there is a synergy with the way the NBL and NBA play. The game is a different style in Europe.”
He said there are 15-20 players of interest at the moment, but NBA teams don’t rush things.
“There’s a significant amount of investment made into these types of players. Not only do they want good players, they also want good people.”
“So, in due course we (scouts) assess and evaluate that, so we can best provide the info to the decision makers at the clubs.”
He’s also looking to guide the Phoenix to playoffs in the NBL1 North.
The league wasn’t held last year, due to COVID-19, but the club’s men’s team reached the semi-finals of a makeshift southern Queensland competition.
“The team was all locals and it’s our intent to get the majority of that squad back and we’ll be well positioned to compete this year,” he said.
“The league will be better with the northern teams coming into it and they are perennially very good.
“But with the squad we’re putting together and complementing it with players we hope to bring in, we’ve set a target of being a top six team.”
New signings loom for Phoenix
Player signings should be announced in coming weeks, but it looks like guard Zane Meehl will play with the team again.
He was recently selected for New Zealand, following in the footsteps of his father Warwick.
“It (the selection) was just reward for Zane,” Ryan said.
“Warwick is a long team coach and a legend in New Zealand as a player and his boys have been a big part of Sunshine Coast basketball.
“So, it’s great to see Zane rewarded for his efforts.”
“To represent his country at this stage of his career is fantastic and I know it’s something he was really excited about and we expect for him to come back and be a senior player in our squad and play a pivotal role for us this season.
“He’s a combo guard, who is a significant scoring threat.
“He’ll bring a lot of ability and his value is his leadership. He’s a bit of a coach on the floor. He brings guys together and keeps their energy up.
“So, he’ll be a vital part of our build-up and hopeful success during the season.”
Fellow Phoenix player Jonathan Janssen also got called into the New Zealand side but Ryan said he’s unlikely to play for the club in 2021.
He expects him to be recruited by a New Zealand league team, which has more financial clout than the Phoenix.
The Phoenix women’s team should be one of the strongest in the league, at least on paper.
Ryan has some time to build a competitive roster, with the NBL1 North season starting in early May.
“With my background and philosophy, the focus is on local players and then bringing in some other players to complement them or fill an area of weakness,” he said.
“We’re getting a really exciting group of players, with some young players and some experienced players. It gives us a good balance.”
As club general manager Ryan is determined to help the Phoenix emerge as a threat while helping the next wave of talent through.
Bringing clubs together
“We’re a representative arm of Noosa, Maroochydore and Caloundra and there is the best part of 2500 people who play at a regular basis, from juniors to seniors.
“We will focus on our engagement back to the clubs with player development and coaching, then into the community through visits to schools … promoting sport and health and wellbeing and encouraging kids to be active and hopefully get them to the stadium and choose basketball as their preferred sport.”
He said he’s looking forward to settling on the Sunshine Coast.
“I’m quite content with the roles I’ve got with the club here and the opportunities I still have in Spain and the consultancy work for a couple of NBA teams, with recruitment and scouting.”
“So, I’m not chasing the next job. I’ve had the experiences overseas and I’m looking forward to everything the Sunshine Coast has to offer.”
