Basketball On The Internet.

COACH Bernie Harrower won't be back to run the Bendigo Spirit WNBL team next season after rejecting the club's offer.

The Spirit today released the following statement: 

Bernie Harrower has rejected the Bendigo Spirit’s offer to coach the 2015-16 season.

Mr Harrower informed the Spirit of his decision this week and chairman Greg Bickley said the club has no alternative but to look elsewhere for a coach for the coming season.

“Bernie provided the Spirit with a counter offer we simply can’t afford,” he said.

“We have been saying for a long time the club is in financial difficulty, and we have to make a lot of changes. This is not the result of just last year’s operation, this is the club now drawing a line in the sand after many years, to save its future.

“However, our coaching decision is not based around salary alone. There are also a number of long-term sustainability issues around player management that need to start to be addressed immediately. These go to the core of the club’s survival, and we need to start acting on them now.”

Mr Bickley said this week’s Australian Sports Commission Report into the WNBL backed up the Spirit board’s focus.

“It highlights the financial vulnerability of the league and the individual clubs, and calls for substantial administrative changes,” he said.

“Most notably, one of the recommendations is that clubs need to put more focus on professionalism. We have been saying that for a while now and the coaching situation has certainly sharpened that focus.

“We need to concentrate on the strength of the club as a whole, and that is why hard decisions need to be made. Our message has been consistent.

“The report also highlighted the significant stress player payments had placed on the club, and that has certainly been an issue for us in the past. When we talk about changing things, this is part of what we are talking about.

“For the club to survive we have to change and we have to be more professional, from a business perspective.”

Mr Bickley said he had spoken to Basketball Australia chief executive officer Anthony Moore and he supported the club’s plans.

“This is not about personalities or a political disagreement between parties, there is much more at stake,” he said.

“Each board member is personally liable for this club’s debts accumulated over past years. They have signed up to be liable for more than $250,000. This shows how committed the board members are to halt the decline and build a better future for the club.

“We don’t want to trade insolvent and we have a very strict agreement with the bank to put a plan in place that stops that happening.

“The coaching position is just one plank of this plan. If it doesn’t change, the bank calls in the debt and the Spirit dies.”

Mr Bickley said the board understood the significance of withdrawing Mr Harrower’s coaching offer.

“We know the decision will be difficult for some in the community to swallow,” he said.

“It breaks our heart to have to make decisions like this, but it is one of the bitter pills we have to swallow to improve the overall health of the club and halt its terminal decline.”