News

Thanet will host a spring 3 on 3 tournament at the Ramsgate Sports Centre on the 16th febuary, during half term. The tournament will be open to players in two divisions, under 14's and under 18's. During the day there will also be contests, shootouts and demonstrations from national league players and coaches. Entry to the tournament will cost just £10 per team but places are limited, so to book, e mail nick@thanetrhinos.com NOW!!!

Well i hope everyone had a great christmas and ate far too much but the season rolls on and thus we will be returning to training at our usual venue of the Ramsgate Sports Centre on Sunday 15th January. Mark the date down in your diry and i will see you all there! Also dont forget the new training time schedule (as detailed below).

The thanet Rhinos training times on a Sunday morning have been revised and will be changing from the first week back in January. The new under 11s division will train from 9am - 10am, the under 14's will then train from 10am - 11am then the under 16s will train from 11am until 12 noon. The Girls will return with a new slot from 12 noon until 1pm. Training will still be on Sunday and will still be at the Ramsgate Sports Centre, High Street, Ramsgate. Please keep looking out for more information about the change!

Thanet came away from this months installment of the Kent league with one win and one loss, however the victory sweetened the defeat, as the East Kent Crusaders were the latest team to fall to the rhinos in the central venue league. Thanet have never beaten east kent, coming close a few times over the past few years, so the win was a special one. "I'm really happy about the win over crusaders today" said head coach nick reed. "everyone knows what a big and successful club they are, so to get a win against them was huge. They put out a squad of completely national league players too, so the scale of the win cannot be understated. We have been waiting for this win for a long time, and it feels great to finally beat them". The rhinos fell to Folkestone saints in thier next game however. Thanet go into the new year with a healthy record of 3 wins and 1 loss, lying in second place in the conference.

Rhinos cruised to the top of the Eastern Conference of the Kent Central venue League this weekend with 2 victories. The first coming via forfiet as the team from ashford failed to arrive to play the first encounter against the rhinos. Thanet therefore took a 20 - 0 victory over Ashford in thier absence. The second game pitted newcomers Dunk Nation against the Rhinos. The game started well for Thanet, with point guard Mitch Connolly and new addition to the squad Phil Kemp combining to give the Rhinos an early lead. Despite the size advantage that Dunk Nation had, the rhinos cruised to a 17 point lead at half time, with Richard Heath Hall working at both ends to give thanet the edge at the break. The second half started just as well for thanet, Mitch Connolly again stamping his autority on the game with a series of good defensive stops followed by transition scores. The lead was stretched to 23 with 5 minutes left when thanet gave young newcomers Phil Sheppard, Ryan Pettman and Darren White the chance to step on the floor and see out the win. "a great performance by everyone" said head coach nick reed. " Aaron packman and Alex Phaedona had huge games, playing big minutes and delivering the goods. Richard was great too. The guys look good and im exited about the rest of the season". Thanet now face the tougher challenge of East Kent and Folkestone in next months installment of the league.

Who is the best player to ever play for the rhinos? Looking back since the club began and at the hundreds of players that the rhinos have played we have decided to ask you, who is the best? Current England forward Ryan Richards? Perhaps former captains Luke price, Darren Wiltshire or Scot Todd? The amazingly athletic guard Richard Heath Hall? Perhaps Back to back kent champions Charlotte McEvely or Justine Newton? American point guard and holder of the clubs scoring record David Awasum? E mail thanetbasketball@yahoo.co.uk and have your say! Vote for whoever you think the best player to ever come through the rhinos is. The result will be announced in December alongside our annual awards ceremony.

The Kent central venue league tips off this weekend at the new location of folkestone leisure centre. The rhinos are scheduled to play 2 games at the weekend, against ashford and then against the home side folkestone. The youngest under 16 side that thanet have ever played will take to the floor with high hopes of carrying on from thier success earlier in the year. The retention of Richard Heath Hall and Mitch Conelly, as well as some fantastic young players such as Alex Phaedona and Lloyd Sherwood have the rhinos looking good for the season ahead. A full roster of the under 16 squad will be posted on the age groups page in due course.

The rhinos took on the newly formed tenterden tornadoes team this past weekend, and although the result wasnt what they would have wanted, the performance of the whole team gave positive signs for the forthcoming season. The friendly brought tenterden, a team due to play in the Kent Mens league to ramsgate to play against the rhinos brightest young under 16 talent. The game finished with the rhinos suffering a heavy defeat, however, thanet did not give up throughout, giving a gutsy performance against a mens team. Coach Chris Nicholas said "the guys played really well. Tenterden had a good ru in the first half and managed to get away from us, but apart from that we made it pretty hard for them. Im really impressed with the guys. This is just the kind of friendly we wanted. To really test the guys before the start of the season". The league starts on the 2nd of October in folkestone.

Three rhinos players took part in the crusaders cup 3 on 3 tournament in canterbury today, finishing a respectable second in thier age group. Lewis Everard, Bradley page and Ben Dale from the under 14's division took part in the competition at the riverside outdoor court in Kingsmead, Canterbury. With two wins and two losses the boys came away happy with thier performance. The guys also got the chance to brush shoulders with some of the East Kent Crusaders mens national league players, including new signing 6'10" walter moyes. Moyes said "the boys played well and looked solid out there". Another event is planned for next year.

The kent central venue league is due to restart soon, moving venues form herne bay to folkestone. The boys have a great chance of doing very well this season, with mitch conelly, aaron packman, matt hobbs and richard heath-hall all looking to prove a point to the rest of the teams in the county after thier heartbreaking last minute loss in sevenoaks. Fixtures will be posted as soon as available.