Mount Gambier Pioneers

Club history

The Pioneers entered the SEABL in 1988 and reached the playoffs only once in their first nine seasons. Under coach John Burns, they finished as conference runners-up in 1997 and again in 2000. Burns left midway through the 2002 season for a teaching job in Indonesia, and assistant Sonya Knight took over. In 2003, Knight led the team to the SEABL South Conference championship and then to the ABA National Final, where they defeated the Ballarat Miners 127–113 for their first ABA title. The 2003 squad included co-captains Jason Sedlock and Damien Anderson, along with Damien Smith, Jamie Holmes, Kurt Russell, Allen Cram, Ben Jones, Brad Wilson, Sam Fotu, Jason Joynes and Kingsley Clarke. Russell was named Under 23 South Conference Player-of-the-Year and National Final MVP; Holmes won the South Conference MVP; and Holmes and Anderson made the SEABL All-Star starting five. After missing the playoffs from 2005 to 2012, the Pioneers won four straight SEABL South Conference titles from 2013 to 2016 under coach Richard Hill, along with back-to-back SEABL championships in 2014 and 2015. In 2017 they won the East Conference and then the SEABL championship, their third national title in four years. Following the SEABL's disbandment after 2018, the Pioneers entered the South Australian Premier League in 2019, accepting concessions that included diluting their men's team, fielding a women's team, and paying $4,000 per visiting club for travel costs. Their men's team reached the 2019 Premier League Grand Final, losing 107–90 to the Forestville Eagles.