Recruiting Coaches and Players for 2015-16

Are you interested in playing or coaching for the Reading Rockets? We have been building the program over the passed 36 months and are now offering basketball from under 7s all the way through to Senior National League teams and participation squads.

In 2015-16 to support our growing club we are trying to find committed people interested in youth and senior coaching. We will be building our primary school CVL this coming season as well as developing an U12 in house league which will create much needed competition before the jump into U14 National League.

To keep expanding we need fellow like minded basketball addicts to come on board an help support these teams - does this sound like you?

We have a range of opportunities for coaches ranging from team supporter and assistant roles up to head coaching roles. Please check out are information poster or get in contact joshuathrn@googlemail.com for further information.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Josh Thorne
Head Coach
Reading Rockets Ladies

https://www.smore.com/3ftsw

 

Season update

The season started very late for the Senior Ladies with games coming at the end of October. November has been very successful with some great team performances leading to 3 wins and 0 losses so far.

Bristol was our first league opponent this year and we traveled with a depleted team due to injuries. The team of 8 put in a competitive performance which included Cat Lutz 62 pts, Mel Espin and Natacha Paris with 11 and Asrina Miah scoring 8. 118-33 the final score and Veena Khanolkar made her senior debut whilst the U18s traveled to Northampton is there league match.

Sunday we faced the London Badgers in the National Trophy and were able to give 3 under 18's there Senior debut Deborah Somoyee, Wandisa Weekes and Chantelle Fernandes helped the group to a 78-52 win. Cat Lutz continued her scoring charge with 27, Mel Espin with 12 and 16 year old Chantelle Fernandes scoring 8. This is some really encouraging signs with starting point guard Silvia Garcia and Small Forward Rhiane Szmidt resting with injuries and Carla Gabernet on leave it shows the strength of this years group. 

Saturday 15th the Ladies faced a talented Cardiff City and continued to build on there focus points. Defensive energy, physical presence and team chemistry were emphasis points and this led to a 99-61 scoreline. Top scorers were Cat Lutz 32, Mel Espin 18 and Carla Gabernet making her season debut with 14. 

Wandisa and Orie Amadi played up in this fixture and were given some tough match ups with them both taking time to guard  Laura Shanahan the Wales high scoring guard. Coming into the game she was averaging 22 pts and keeping her to 13 was a great team performance as we knew she was going to be there go to player. 

Head Coach Josh Thorne was really pleased with the teams early season progress. 'At this time we are focusing on getting the basics right. Putting the team first, competing for 40 minutes, understanding our defensive systems and making sure we are asking questions. Understanding why, when and how are a must. The groups energy at training has been very positive and the quality of the U18s means we have a large pool of girls playing Seniors. The environment is healthy, we are moving forward each week and the group is hungry to see how good we could be'.

Welcome Asrina Miah

Name :
Asrina Miah

Age:

25

Years Playing:

12 years

Clubs Played:

London Westside, Kingston University, London Metropolitan University, Kingston Wildcats, Woking Blackhawks, Mole Valley Phoenix, South-East Regional U14, London U18, Surrey Women's.

Achievements:

Kingston University Mvp '11, Rimini Tournament Mvp '11, Kingston Wildcats Mvp '07, '08, London Metropolitan Mvp '07, ,

Won the BUCS League with Kingston University in '11, Won Rimini Tournament '11, Won the Busa League with London Metropolitan in '07, Won the County League in 2004-2006 with Kingston Wildcats

1st place 3pt contest Barcelona '14, 1st place 3pt contest Salou '12, 2nd place 3pt contest Bradford '14.

Experience of being involved with Rockets and why you wanted to become a rocket:

I wanted to join the Rockets as soon I entered their home court, the atmosphere was very positive and the members were very welcoming. The Club has a family feel to it that had attracted me. Every member is dedicated and hardworking, we all love the game and want each other to succeed, I can feel this connection even though I have not been here for very long. The managers, coaches and players are very committed and they are always striving to make the club better.

Asrina is number 4

Pre Season

Pre Season

The girls have been keeping themselves busy with friendlies vs Camden, Oaklands and making the final of the Aztec Tournament. Going into their final pre season game vs Cardiff Uni with a 6-1 record gives the girls lots of confidence going into the season.

Abby O'brien and Maitena Senar

Abby and Maitena have joined the Rockets family this summer and have settled in quickly. The most important part of being a Rocket is what a player brings to the environment, you must be competitive, but honest and open. These two ladies have really enhanced the family feel in the group. 2014-15 is going to be a great year for these two ladies. 

Here are some brief introductions for the girls.

Name: Abby O'Brien
Age: 20
Years Playing: 7/8
Clubs Played: Sefton Stars, Cheshire Jets.
Having played for the past few years in the North I knew that I definitely wanted to play basketball while in Reading. I had heard through the grapevine that Rockets are a good team and upon researching them I learnt that their stats backed this up. 

After speaking to Josh, the coach of Div 2 Women, I attended my first training session and it was then that I realized what a lovely community the Rockets team is. Everyone was really welcoming and encouraging and worked together to improve not only themselves, but the team as a whole. It was this family like community that made me realize I had joined the right club, not only for skill development but also to make some great friends.


Abby is number 9 in the picture.

Name: Maitena Senar
Age: 25
Years playing: 16
Clubs played: San Fermin ikastola, UPNA, Sant Adria Femeni, C.B Cerdanyola, NASSA, London Westside
Achievements: 
Play with U-12, U-14 and U-16 Navarra's Regional Team the Spanish National Tournament.
Move up from Primera Catalana to Copa Catalana with C.B Cerdanyola in 2007
Win the Div2 league with NASSA in 2012
Win the Div2 league with London Westside in 2013

2nd position in Bradford tournament with London Westside in 2014

Experience of being involved with Rockets and why you wanted to become a rocket: 

Rockets is a close family club which makes me feel part of it. This strong bond is important for me in order to know where I come from and where I want to go as a player 

6 New Senior Players for the 2014-15 Season

2014-15 sees the signing of 6 new talented young players from a wide range of nationalalities. Rockets are very excited to work with these young people and help them develop and work on their seasons dreams and aspirations.

Rita Silva is 25 and started playing at 11 years old.
She has played for CBA and Algès (Portugal) her achievements include Mvp 2002 under-14 regional tournament Div II; Under 16 Portuguese National Team qualification for 2004 Bosnia Herzegovina European Championship.

So far it has been great being with Reading Rockets, everyone is very welcoming and im really excited for the season. I wanted to be a rocket because its seemed like a good club to be a part of and a good team for me.

We will be introducing the new players over the next few days as well as words from new Assistant Coach Alberto Silvestre.

 

2014-15 - Going the extra mile

The off season has been going really well. We had trials in early June and summer training followed for both the U18 and Senior teams who have now been training together for 6 weeks.

This summer has been driven by the goal of  going the extra mile, creating team first, we not me playing / coaching environment and we have been big advocates of the recent NBA winning San Antonio Spurs.

This article about Rashard Lewis and sarafice was also a big driver for us - http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2014/05/25/lewis-reserve-role-with-heat-would-not-have-fit-his-younger-self/

The club welcomes Alberto Silvestre who hails from Madrid, Spain. Alberto will be joining the coaching staff of Josh Thorne and Rick Buckner who are looking to build on last years successes.

2014-15 sees new challenges and new goals, we will be welcoming new players in both squads and we will be introducing them shortly.

Please check out are Facebook page and if you want to be involved please get in touch https://www.facebook.com/rocketsladiesprogram?ref_type=bookmark.

2014-15 Trials

2014 - 15 Trials

Rockets Senior and U18 Ladies

June 6th and 13th 7.30 - 9.30pm

John Madejski School

RG2 8AF

Contact: 0118 9263040

Email: gary@readingrockets.com

£6 for both trials

READING ROCKETS ADVANCE TO THE SEMI FINALS AFTER 71-43 WIN OVER LOUGHBOROUGH!

This past weekend saw Loughborough Student Riders 2nd team, take the drive down to Reading for the 2014 Division II Women's Playoff Quarter Finals.

Coach Thorne was really pleased with the initial draw in the playoffs, ''I enjoy the experience of playing a new team from a different league. Some years you play the same team 3 to 4 times and it becomes repetitive. I was excited to see what Loughborough 2nds were like, being the feeder team for a Division 1 program I was expecting some talented girls and plenty of athleticism".

Coming into the playoff match, the Rockets didn't have a full strength team available with Captain Steph Johnson out injured with bruised ligaments in her ankle, but luckily the Rockets had been able to play a double header the previous weekend which gave other players time to adjust to slightly different roles. The Rockets split the double header weekend suffering their only league loss to Birmingham 70-62 after traveling with a young Rockets team consisting of only four senior players, but the ladies bounced back with a tremendous defensive game vs Bromsgrove the next day defeating the Bears 81-21.  The Rockets had some tension to release after their loss and the girls executed fantastically what they set out to do.

They came into the playoffs full of confidence and energy. As a strong defensive team the Rockets looked to make stops defensively to spark their offense and to make a run on the visiting Loughborough Student Riders.  They pushed the ball and played unselfishly finding ways to score both inside and out and they were able to control their creative play as veteran point guard Claire Maytham took the helm and helped to keep the team's composure from the tip.

1st period - 15-9 to Rockets.

Until 45s to go in the period Rockets were up 15-3 and Loughborough looked shaken. But 2 big 3s from missed defensive assignments meant Loughborough went into the quarter break on a high.

2nd period - 37-20 to Rockets

Alex Stollery had an outstanding quarter - dominating the post on defense, running in transition, she set the tone for the group. Coaches Thorne and Buckner wanted 40 minutes of intensity and the strength of the team is its depth. Melissa Espin and Carla De Benavides Gabernet were relentless in their offensive rebounds and picking off reversal passes.

The focus at half time was to win the 2nd half by continuing to push the ball and to walk off the court with no regrets at the final whistle.  Starting the 3rd quarter 0-0 with some highlighted areas to improve the Rockets came out ready to fight.

3rd period - 56-27 to Rockets

As the Rockets extended their lead in the 3rd quarter, U18s Denisa Molnar, Eloise Sneddon and Rhiane Szmidt got an opportunity to play some extended minutes which is going to stand them in great sted going into their playoff quarter finals with Sheffield in April. 

4th period - 71-43 to Rockets

Great fight back from Loughborough winning this period 16-15 as they took advantage of a defensive change from the Rockets. Coach Patel can be very proud of his girls, all being aged 16-19 with a great attitude. You can see why they came 2nd in the North league and will be an even bigger force coming into next season. The Rockets were a more experienced team and it showed as each team member contributed through hard work and determination. Becky Lear and Cat Lutz lead the Rockets' scoring with 13 a piece and Carla De Benavides Gabernet added 12. 

Rockets Division II Women make club history! First league title and now first trip to the playoff Semi Finals!

 

If you can make the trip to the Brixton Rec on Sunday at 2pm that would be fantastic. Brixton made the Trophy Final, finished their league season undefeated and are ranked 2nd in the country. We are really looking forward to the opportunity to play a high ranked team.

Being the highest scoring team in the country from league play at 92.35 and Brixton averaging 72.2 it shows both teams can score. Brixton have a great defensive record forcing teams to 37.36 and Rockets 47.21 that brings the scoring difference a bit close together. But Stats mean nothing come game day. It is going to be a fantastic experience and we look to keep growing as a group and as individuals. 

DIVISION II WOMEN - MIDLANDS SOUTH WEST LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!

Over the weekend the Division II Women traveled to Cardiff, Wales to play against Cardiff City in a deciding game for the first place spot in the Midlands South West league.  The Rockets faced many challenges that day, traveling with a smaller squad due to another fixture for the U18 that same day, the Rockets needed to play smart basketball in order not to deplete their small bench of three players. 

The first quarter set the tone for the game as the Rockets were called for several early fouls which slowed down their momentum and sent Cardiff to the free-throw line where they were able to convert. Cardiff City came out with determination to defeat the number one team in the league as they outscored the Rockets in the first quarter 15-11.

The second quarter belonged to the Rockets though as they came out pushing the ball up the floor and chipped away at Cardiff City's lead converting several fast break buckets.  The Rockets played great team basketball and were able to out-score Cardiff 26-18 and finished the second on top 37-33.   

The third quarter again belonged to the Rockets outscoring Cardiff 25-14 as they continued to battle inside and out, finding open shots and going hard to the basket.  Fouls continued to be a huge factor in the game and eventually caught up with the Rockets in the fourth quarter with both forwards Becky Lear and Carla Gabernet fouling out of the game.  With four minutes left to play Rockets guard Steph Johnson suffered an ankle injury on a rebound that took her out of the game, bringing in their last player on the bench. 

The last four minutes of the game was a battle as Cardiff City continued to fight, connecting 3-4 shots in the last 2 minutes to bring the game within 6 points.  The Rockets showed a lot of composure and worked together to hold the lead for a 80-74 win and securing the league title.  Leading the Rockets in scoring was Cat Lutz with 33, Melissa England Espin with 17 and Carla Gabernet who added 13. 

Next weekend the Rockets finish the regular season with a double header, they travel to Birmingham on the 15th and welcome Bromsgrove at home on the 16th.

Congratulations Ladies!!!