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.<\/span><\/p>\n The WNBL Division One team didn’t have a head coach before their 22-game campaign started.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n But six months on and they are league champions for the first time.<\/span><\/p>\n The womens’ story is one of resilience, determination, togetherness and hard graft – but how did they do it?<\/span><\/p>\n “It was stressful at the beginning of the season,” fourth-year Kestrels guard Saffie Jarju told BBC Sport.<\/span><\/p>\n “We had pre-season practices without a coach and we didn’t know how the team would be set up.”<\/span><\/p>\n 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.<\/span><\/p>\n 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.<\/span><\/p>\n 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.<\/span><\/p>\n With their season fast approaching and no head coach in place it was the Kestrels’ gameday announcer Jerry Merrill who stepped up.<\/span><\/p>\n “He helped out at our training sessions,” added 21-year-old Jarju.<\/span><\/p>\n “We organised most things but Jerry, who is a qualified coach, was really kind to be there and support us.<\/span><\/p>\n “He sacrificed a lot for the team and we are so grateful to him.”<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, 170 miles away, Nottingham basketball coach Ben Stanley was alerted to a job opening on the Solent Kestrels men’s team.<\/span><\/p>\n The former player, who had roots in Southampton, had retired six years ago and almost left the sport behind for good.<\/span><\/p>\n 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.<\/span><\/p>\n “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.<\/span><\/p>\n “We just wanted to build an atmosphere where the girls felt valued and wanted to compete in the right way, whilst playing good basketball.”<\/span><\/p>\n 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.”<\/span><\/p>\n “It was tricky sometimes though, Ben would use terms that I really didn’t understand.<\/span><\/p>\n “He would say things at training like ‘peal, gap and window’ and we were like ‘what the hell is peal?’.<\/span><\/p>\n “We had to absorb a lot of new stuff but Ben has definitely made us more knowledgeable players.”<\/span><\/p>\n 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.<\/span><\/p>\n Teams are based across England and Wales and players are part time semi-professionals, who either have regular day jobs or are students.<\/span><\/p>\n It is one step below England’s top level of women’s basketball, the WBBL, which features full-time athletes.<\/span><\/p>\n Solent Kestrels went on a four-game unbeaten run to open the 2022-23 season ,outscoring their opponents 287 points to 143.<\/span><\/p>\n “We were in a groove”, said Kestrels first-year forward Megan Dorney, from the US.<\/span><\/p>\n “We were playing so well and it was pretty cool to be such a dominant team early on – everyone was having fun.”<\/span><\/p>\n Although the Kestrels would lose just one game before Christmas, the second half of the season would prove to be more challenging.<\/span><\/p>\n “Our opponents were improving and we couldn’t afford to slack off,” said Jarju.<\/span><\/p>\n “We had to raise our game and get our fight back because we really wanted to win the league.”<\/span><\/p>\n Anglia Ruskin University handed the Kestrels their second defeat in mid-January, beating them by nine points.<\/span><\/p>\n A month later, Stanley’s side were forced into an overtime battle with bottom of the league Cardiff Met Archers II.<\/span><\/p>\n “That was a real moment of adversity,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n “It was around that time that we were becoming a little disjointed, we weren’t communicating and things weren’t clicking.”<\/span><\/p>\n For a semi-pro team made up of students, time is precious.<\/span><\/p>\n Players have their studies, commitments to their school’s basketball team, and general life stuff to enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\n Stanley and the coaching staff are well aware that they need to be economic with these young women’s time.<\/span><\/p>\n “We have a seminar meeting room overlooking the basketball court at Solent University and we meet there before practice.<\/span><\/p>\n “We asked the girls what they thought was holding us back.<\/span><\/p>\n “They raised some issues with communication and technical things, and we changed some stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n “It was a really positive meeting and the response has been fantastic.”<\/span><\/p>\n The Kestrels would go on to beat Cardiff convincingly in overtime.<\/span><\/p>\n Stanley said it was probably one of the biggest moments of their regular season and a massive achievement.<\/span><\/p>\n 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.<\/span><\/p>\n The best teams in sport often have a special ingredient that allows them to endure the steepest climbs before conquering the mountain.<\/span><\/p>\n It was time for the Kestrels to lean on their special ingredient.<\/span><\/p>\n “It’s our chemistry that makes us special,” said Jarju.<\/span><\/p>\n “The girls mix well, we don’t separate, we communicate and it’s a great environment.<\/span><\/p>\n “It helps us overcome tough situations because we stick together and we just love basketball.”<\/span><\/p>\n Dorney agrees: “The Kestrels programme feels like a family and everyone genuinely cares about each other on and off the court.”<\/span><\/p>\n “You can see it and you can feel it around the team.”<\/span><\/p>\n When the Kestrels travelled to face Worcester Wolves in their penultimate game of the season they knew a win would seal the title.<\/span><\/p>\n 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.<\/span><\/p>\n “I think we were a little shocked,” said Jarju.<\/span><\/p>\n “When we got into changing rooms we read posts on social media congratulating us, and some of the girls messaged family and friends.<\/span><\/p>\n “We ate McDonalds in the van on the way home, sang songs and chatted.<\/span><\/p>\n “We were exhausted but it was such a good feeling.”<\/span><\/p>\n There was no trophy presentation or medal ceremony to congratulate the new champions.<\/span><\/p>\n It might have seemed a little extreme to cut the nets down or pinch the game ball to mark the special occasion.<\/span><\/p>\n Absorbing the surroundings and reflecting on how far the team had come was enough for Dorney.<\/span><\/p>\n “It was satisfying knowing how hard we had worked for so long.<\/span><\/p>\nCoach balancing two teams<\/h3>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/onesport\/cps\/624\/cpsprodpb\/ED15\/production\/_129339606_kestrelspracticegrabbed.jpg\")
<\/span><\/span>‘We couldn’t afford to slack off’<\/h3>\n
Time is precious – ‘we changed some stuff’<\/h3>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/onesport\/cps\/624\/cpsprodpb\/11425\/production\/_129339607_kestrelsbenslatergrabbed.jpg\")
<\/span><\/span>![\"The](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/onesport\/cps\/624\/cpsprodpb\/C605\/production\/_129339605_kestrelsteamgrabbed.jpg\")
<\/span><\/span>‘We were exhausted’<\/h3>\n
‘We’ve had such a good time’<\/h3>\n