If Solent Kestrels were to post a ‘How it Started v How it’s Going’ meme to social media, it would show two very contrasting images of their 2022-23 season.

But six months on and they are league champions for the first time.

The womens’ story is one of resilience, determination, togetherness and hard graft – but how did they do it?

“It was stressful at the beginning of the season,” fourth-year Kestrels guard Saffie Jarju told BBC Sport.

“We had pre-season practices without a coach and we didn’t know how the team would be set up.”

Solent Kestrels, who are based in Southampton and play in the second tier of competitive women’s basketball in England, have gone through a major foundational change since last season.

A team that was once made up of adult players and university students was transformed into a team of exclusively students, from the local university and college.

Suddenly veteran players with years of experience were gone and the new squad was very young, with only one player over the age of 24.

With their season fast approaching and no head coach in place it was the Kestrels’ gameday announcer Jerry Merrill who stepped up.

“He helped out at our training sessions,” added 21-year-old Jarju.

“We organised most things but Jerry, who is a qualified coach, was really kind to be there and support us.

“He sacrificed a lot for the team and we are so grateful to him.”

Coach balancing two teams

Meanwhile, 170 miles away, Nottingham basketball coach Ben Stanley was alerted to a job opening on the Solent Kestrels men’s team.

The former player, who had roots in Southampton, had retired six years ago and almost left the sport behind for good.

He applied and got the job, and when he arrived and saw the women’s team doing their best to stay afloat, he jumped in to help.

“I’ll be honest, when I arrived there were no real aims or ambitions on the women’s side of things other than to compete for a play-off place,” Stanley said.

“We just wanted to build an atmosphere where the girls felt valued and wanted to compete in the right way, whilst playing good basketball.”

Jarju remembers Stanley’s arrival; “He put us all at ease and it’s amazing that he ended up sticking with us for the whole season whilst also coaching the men.”

“It was tricky sometimes though, Ben would use terms that I really didn’t understand.

“He would say things at training like ‘peal, gap and window’ and we were like ‘what the hell is peal?’.

“We had to absorb a lot of new stuff but Ben has definitely made us more knowledgeable players.”

‘We couldn’t afford to slack off’

WNBL Division One, also known as the National League, is made up of 12 teams who compete over seven months in league, cup and play-off competition.

Teams are based across England and Wales and players are part time semi-professionals, who either have regular day jobs or are students.

It is one step below England’s top level of women’s basketball, the WBBL, which features full-time athletes.

Solent Kestrels went on a four-game unbeaten run to open the 2022-23 season ,outscoring their opponents 287 points to 143.

“We were in a groove”, said Kestrels first-year forward Megan Dorney, from the US.

“We were playing so well and it was pretty cool to be such a dominant team early on – everyone was having fun.”

Although the Kestrels would lose just one game before Christmas, the second half of the season would prove to be more challenging.

“Our opponents were improving and we couldn’t afford to slack off,” said Jarju.

“We had to raise our game and get our fight back because we really wanted to win the league.”

Time is precious – ‘we changed some stuff’

Anglia Ruskin University handed the Kestrels their second defeat in mid-January, beating them by nine points.

A month later, Stanley’s side were forced into an overtime battle with bottom of the league Cardiff Met Archers II.

“That was a real moment of adversity,” he said.

“It was around that time that we were becoming a little disjointed, we weren’t communicating and things weren’t clicking.”

For a semi-pro team made up of students, time is precious.

Players have their studies, commitments to their school’s basketball team, and general life stuff to enjoy.

Stanley and the coaching staff are well aware that they need to be economic with these young women’s time.

“We have a seminar meeting room overlooking the basketball court at Solent University and we meet there before practice.

“We asked the girls what they thought was holding us back.

“They raised some issues with communication and technical things, and we changed some stuff.

“It was a really positive meeting and the response has been fantastic.”

The Kestrels would go on to beat Cardiff convincingly in overtime.

Stanley said it was probably one of the biggest moments of their regular season and a massive achievement.

‘We were exhausted’

The hard-earned win would propel the Kestrels on to another four-game unbeaten run and they were full of momentum heading into their final few games of the season, which included tough match-ups against Ipswich and Thames Valley.

The best teams in sport often have a special ingredient that allows them to endure the steepest climbs before conquering the mountain.

It was time for the Kestrels to lean on their special ingredient.

“It’s our chemistry that makes us special,” said Jarju.

“The girls mix well, we don’t separate, we communicate and it’s a great environment.

“It helps us overcome tough situations because we stick together and we just love basketball.”

Dorney agrees: “The Kestrels programme feels like a family and everyone genuinely cares about each other on and off the court.”

“You can see it and you can feel it around the team.”

‘We’ve had such a good time’

When the Kestrels travelled to face Worcester Wolves in their penultimate game of the season they knew a win would seal the title.

Despite a slow start they pulled away toward the end of the second quarter and claimed a dominant 82-56 victory – and the club’s first ever National League Division One crown.

“I think we were a little shocked,” said Jarju.

“When we got into changing rooms we read posts on social media congratulating us, and some of the girls messaged family and friends.

“We ate McDonalds in the van on the way home, sang songs and chatted.

“We were exhausted but it was such a good feeling.”

There was no trophy presentation or medal ceremony to congratulate the new champions.

It might have seemed a little extreme to cut the nets down or pinch the game ball to mark the special occasion.

Absorbing the surroundings and reflecting on how far the team had come was enough for Dorney.

“It was satisfying knowing how hard we had worked for so long.

“For me, being part of a winning team that feels like a family has made being away from home a lot easier – we’ve had such a good time together.”