User:Lj 9/Wheelers Hill Vipers

Wheelers Hill Vipers is a professional association basketball club based in Melbourne, Australia. The club plays in the MEBA(Melbourne East Basketball Association.

The club was founded in 2009, and quickly became a strong force in Australian basketball, dominating the competition in their second year of competition. However, the Vipers spent their first year lagging at the bottom of the table, and only winning 2 games for the season. The club orignially played in plain red home, and black away.

The first season managers Sam Tyrrell and Luke Johnstone led the Vipers to a hopeless first season, but they also taught the boys how to fight and show what playing in a team is about. Without this management in the first season, the Vipers would not be where they are today without them.

The first season brought out many different personalities in the players, and everyone got to know each other on a personal level. The first official win the club had, came against the E-Bees. The Vipers had brought in 2 new players for the game, and they proved to be the difference in the nail-biting game which came down to the last 10 seconds.

Wheelers Hill Vipers has played at Nunawading since its formation, but plans to move to a new state-of-the-art stadium in Wheelers Hill, which was due to be completed by 2012 but has been put on hold until economic conditions improve. The Wheelers Hill Vipers have a very large fan base and continue to grow through memberships, sponsorships, and merchandise.

History
Wheelers Hill Vipers were formed on the 6 of March 2009, during a lunch break at school. Co-founders Jordan Cavanagh and Daniel Armstrong though it would be a fun/good idea to start a basketball team on friday nights. Interest quickly grew within the school, and the Vipers had a team by the end of the week. The search for a manager/coach came along and Sam Tyrrell and Luke Johnstone jumped on the oppurtunity to become the managers of a quickly growing franchise.

The clubs first season in the MEBA was quite unsuccesfull. The club had to overcome many hurdles, including the report of the entire club to a 153 week ban (maximum). The Vipers took the case to the tribunal and eventually won and they only walked away with a $150 good behaivour bond.

Sam Tyrrell and Luke Johnstone were the first, original coaches of the Vipers. They're main objective/rule was that if you shoot inside 2 point areas, you are off the ground. They wanted to increase the amount of 3-point shots and also increase the accuracy of their players. This worked sometimes, but overall it did not improve the Vipers table position.

Colours
The Wheelers Hill Vipers traditionally played in red home or black away. Jordan Cavanagh designed the jerseys for the first season of competetion, but after the season ended Paul McGrath and Luke Johnstone decided to design a new look Vipers.

The new look Vipers wasn't just to include to colour of the Vipers, it was the whole entire image of the club. Because of the first season in the MEBA, the Vipers had a bad reputation with the league and the referees. To put a foot forward, it was decided that the whole club had to undergo a change in order to lose that reptation. Paul McGrath and Luke Johnstone started by desiging a whole new set of logos, jerseys, and merchandise to complement to new look Vipers.

Along with the new jerseys, Paul and Luke had plans for more. They wanted to produce a range of clothing for not only players and staff, but they wanted to set up a whole merchandise range for fans and other public to purchase. Polo shirts and well as hooded jumpers are currently being design by the pair and are hoping to be on sale by early 2010.

Stadium
The Wheelers Hill Vipers currently play at Nunawading Basketball Stadium. The stadium houses 5 courts which includes 1 main showcourt.

The Vipers argue that they should recieve the showcourt priority due to the large number or crowd attendances. With such a large fan base, the Vipers maintain large crowds each week, with the official record standing at 63. This report was tallied by Thomas Giles (team spirit co-ordinator).

Training ground
Plans have been put in place for the Wheelers Hill Vipers to relocate to the Sheep Crib in Wheelers Hill. The new state of the art facility will include an underground carpark, 2 basketball courts, gym, pool & spa, meeting rooms, change rooms, games room as well as a kitchen and large observation deck overlooking the basketball courts

Supporters
The Wheelers Hill Vipers have arguably the largest fan base in the MEBA. The Vipers bring in close to 50 more spectators each game, than those of other teams. The support comes from family and friends at the local school. The executive board has proposed to bring a membership scheme to help bring profit to the club as well as continue to expand the loyal fan base.

At the current stage, members will be able to have unlimited access to the players as well as many other feautres, which can be seen here at Wheelers Hill Vipers on Facebook. Due to the large amount of support that the club has, many fans would like to be given the oppurtunity to play for the Vipers. With this in mind, Luke Johnstone and Paul McGrath have started to expand the club, starting with making new teams. The proposed teams will consist of U16's (2 teams) and U14's (1 team) which will also play on friday nights in the junior domestic competitions.

The support has been so overwhelming, that even a group of fans made their own song for the Wheelers Hill Vipers.

Theme song
"We are the Vipers, the mighty Vipers,

And we are mental, and we are mad (WE ARE MAD!),

We are the loyalest, basketball supporters,

The world has ever had."

Current coaching staff

 * As of 7 June 2009.