Basketball New Zealand

Richard Dickel & Southland Flyers (Southern Exposures)

Brendon Egan, Southland Times
Strewn across a bench in Richard Dickel‘s office at Stadium Southland is an assortment of trophies and championship medals.

They symbolise commitment, fortitude and reward, but also the dramatic progress that Southland basketball has made since Dickel came on board three years ago as the association’s development and operations manager.

Back then, that same bench was devoid of silverware and the mere mention of men’s basketball and Southland in the same sentence was met generally with widespread laughter.

That all changed last Saturday night, however, with the Southland Pearls women’s side and Southland Flyers men winning their respective silverware at the open nationals tournament in Invercargill under Dickel’s tutelage. It was the first time the Southland’s men’s and women’s representative sides had won a national title at the same tournament and it brought a wry smile to Dickel’s face when asked about the significance of the achievement.

“There were no trophies sitting up there when I first came and now, through a lot of reasons, we’re going to need a cabinet. It’s a fantastic situation to be in …

“When I had my interview for this (job), I said that within five years I wanted to win a national title. In the second year, we did that and in the third year, we’ve won three. Things don’t happen by accident.”

Dickel is quick to point out he is only one of the many hard-working figures who have helped bring about the resurgence of basketball in Southland. Without the support of the board, sponsors, volunteers, other key personnel and the players themselves, he stressed their recent success couldn’t have been possible.

Southland basketball was in a state of transition when Dickel arrived in Invercargill in October 2006, after previously working as Rebel Sport’s commercial representative in Dunedin. He says the main thing they needed was some direction.

“It was starting to get better. They’d been through some issues, but had some new people on the board who were great. They had some good kids here and just needed a bit of profile and structure in the representative programme.”

The main emphasis in his first year in the job was putting policies and procedures in place and drumming up support in the community for the game.

Dickel always seemed destined to end up with a career in basketball being the son of legendary New Zealand coach Carl Dickel and the elder brother of Tall Black point guard Mark “Sparky” Dickel.

With Richard only being 18 months older than Mark, the brothers played on the same basketball team at Logan Park High School in Dunedin and enjoyed a friendly rivalry growing up.

“We were really competitive. We still are to this day, but it’s a normal brother thing … I remember going away on trips with dad and the boys would buy two sets of boxing gloves and take bets on who would cry first,” he recalls.

Dickel was a handy basketballer, playing 10 seasons in the NBL as a shooting guard with Waikato and Otago, and says at times it was tough being in the shadow of his more illustrious family members.

“I think it bothered other people more than it bothered me. I learnt at a young age to be myself. I knew I was never as talented as Mark and dad never put any pressure on us.”

Towards the end of his playing career Dickel discovered, like his father, that coaching could be an avenue he wanted to pursue. He cut his teeth with the Otago Breakers in the women’s NBL for two years, before serving as an assistant coach with the Otago Nuggets men’s team. Dickel has coached a multitude of sides since he arrived in Southland, ranging from the top-level Pearls and Flyers sides right down to primary school teams.

“I’ve coached ever since I was 14,” Dickel says.

“I worked pretty hard as a player but I didn’t have too much natural talent. As a coach, I’ve got a wee way to go. I’ve definitely got far more of a future as a coach than I did as a player … I’ll always coach, until the day I die.”

One of the most impressive qualities about Dickel is his ability to get the best out of his players and think outside the square whether it be as a coach or as an administrator.

The most obvious recent example was his decision to bring 40-year-old former Tall Black players Brendon Pongia, Ed Book and Terrence Lewis down for this season to play for the Flyers. Some blasted the move saying they would be better off giving court time to local players, but Dickel’s decision proved to be a masterstroke with Southland winning the title and young home-grown talents like Paratene McLeod and Andrew Wheeler developing considerably through the trio’s experience and leadership.

“I’m constantly doing things that a lot of coaches wouldn’t do,” Dickel says.

“At the end of the day, if I make decisions it has to be for the betterment of the team and I knew getting those guys would be for the betterment of the team.”

Southland’s performances at the open nationals and their successful staging of the tournament at Stadium Southland has given the association a massive boost in their bid to get an NBL team in Invercargill in the future. In 2002 Southland went agonisingly close to getting a side in the NBL, but it fell over late in the piece because of a lack of funding.

Dickel believes the region is the closest it has ever been to getting a flagship men’s side since then and says it would be huge for the region.

“Let’s give it a good go. Having men’s and women’s teams playing in an NBL structure would be fantastic. We have to have something for our athletes to strive for and we have to have a reason to get athletes here … whether it happens next year or in five years, I don’t know.”

He says the final decision will probably come down to funding and whether other NBL sides want a Southland team in the league.

“We’re working down paths right now and having discussions with the NBL people. We’re doing some stuff behind the scenes to see whether it can be feasible. We’ve got to meet with funders and all that yet. There’s no point going that far if you haven’t done your homework.”

The Southland Stags rugby team and Steel netball franchise already enjoy a parochial following in the deep south, but Dickel is adamant that Invercargill could handle another semi-professional sporting outfit.

“You’ve got the facilities, you’ve got great people and you have everything you need here. That’s why I think it can work.

“We’ve got an opportunity to have something at the stadium for nine home games. That’s something for our community to see nine times a year … I’m not going to say we’re definitely going to go ahead with it. A lot of water has got to go under the bridge.”

Dickel also thinks that the women’s national league, disbanded two years ago, needs to start up again in New Zealand if Southland’s women’s players are to continue their development.

“Our women’s team is the best in New Zealand,” Dickel says.

“It’s a shame they don’t have an NBL for us to try and win. We’ve got a lot of good young girls coming through. We need a national league up and running.”

Dickel may be a transplanted “Dunedinite”, but he says Southland is very much home these days for him and his family.

“I don’t see myself going anywhere. My partner and kids are all really happy with where they’re at. I’m a pretty loyal type of person … I want to follow through on what I said I wanted to deliver.”

With the NBL potentially on the horizon, Dickel says it’s an exciting time to be involved in the front office at Basketball Southland.

“My vision will be to walk in (to Stadium Southland) and that place will be packed for a basketball match. Not for the Tall Blacks, but for a Southland match. I think that’s possible in the future.”