2 days ago
Hart says 'stars aligned' for Rebels head coach role
Former Great Britain player Joe Hart believes becoming head coach of Essex Rebels men's team is a "perfect match".The 31-year-old has taken charge after Ross Norfolk stood joined the National League Basketball Division One club last year following spells with Plymouth City Patriots and Newcastle Eagles."When I heard about the opportunity, it consumed my thoughts night and day. It's always something I've wanted to do," he told BBC Essex Sport."I'm aware there are very few opportunities in this country to step into a position like this. I'm from Southend so I've got an affiliation for the area and it kind of seemed like the stars are aligned, a perfect match."
The men's team won promotion to Division One five years ago and finished sixth in 2024-25 before losing to Reading Rockets in the play-off quarter-finals."I would love for us to win something, I'd love us to be competing for the league and playing in finals," said Hart."Whether that happens or not leads back to my philosophy of if we're doing things the right way, I'll be content if we don't end up with everyone celebrating at the end of the season, but hopefully, it is a by-product."He continued: "I've always wanted to coach, throughout my playing career it's always been something I was drawn to. I don't know if I was necessarily ready to stop playing but when you get an opportunity to be part of a programme like this and take the lead on something, it definitely helped me take that step."The Rebels are based at the University of Essex, with the women's team competing in Super League Basketball. It is Hart's first head coach role, but he said: "In my second year at Plymouth, I had a torn ACL and because of that I couldn't play, but the club offered me a role as an assistant coach for the men's team - and for the entirety of my time at Plymouth, I coached their university programme and we subsequently had a Division Three side as well."In my last season, we set up an academy so I was coaching 16 to 18 year olds as well on a daily basis, so I've had a little bit of experience with men at pro level, a little bit more hands-on at university level and as well with the 18s."I am excited to oversee this programme now, there's a good balance of guys who are professional and guys still early in their development, which is a nice blend."
