Hobart Chargers
| Hobart Chargers | |
|---|---|
| Leagues | SEABL |
| Founded | 1981 |
| History |
Men: Hobart 1981–1982 Hobart 1990–1996 Hobart Chargers 1997–present Women: Hobart Chargers 1998–2002; 2010–present |
| Arena | Derwent Entertainment Centre |
| Capacity | 4,400 |
| Location | Hobart, Tasmania |
| Team colors | Purple & grey |
| Main sponsor | Telstra |
| President | David Bartlett |
| Head coach |
M: Anthony Stewart W: Dwain Davie |
| Championships |
3 (2000, 2002, 2008) (M) 0 (W) |
| Website | HobartChargers.com.au |
Hobart Chargers is a South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) club based in Hobart, Tasmania. The club fields a team in both the Men's SEABL and Women's SEABL. The Chargers play their home games at the Derwent Entertainment Centre. For sponsorship reasons, the two teams are known as the Telstra Hobart Chargers.
In 1981, a Hobart men's team entered the South Eastern Basketball League (SEBL) for the league's inaugural season. After two seasons in the SEBL, the team withdrew from the league due to the introduction of the Hobart Devils in the National Basketball League in 1983. A Hobart team re-entered the SEBL, now known as the SEABL, in 1990. Between 1990 and 1996, Hobart had seven straight seasons of missing the playoffs under coaches Denis Hyland (1990–91; 1993–95), Danny Adamson (1992), and Ross Park (1996).
The Chargers name was born in 1997 after the demise of the Hobart Devils. The Chargers immediately saw success as they won back-to-back CBA South Conference Championships in 1997 and 1998. In 2000 and 2002, they not only won their third and fourth South Conference titles, but were successful in claiming National Championship honours in both years. During this period, a Hobart Chargers women's team had an unsuccessful five-year run between 1998 and 2002, as they failed to make a playoff berth in that time.
The Chargers' inaugural coach, Mark Chivers, ended his 11-year tenure following the 2007 season. In 2008, Dan Krebs took over as coach of the Chargers and guided them to their fifth South Conference title. They went on to win the overall SEABL Championship after defeating East Conference champions, the Knox Raiders, in a contest that earned the winning team a semi-finals place in the Australian Club Championships. In the ACC semi-finals, the Chargers defeated the Melbourne Tigers 128–126 to move on to the grand final. There they were defeated 103–99 by the Rockhampton Rockets to finish as national runners-up. Despite his successful season with the Chargers, Krebs was replaced as coach in 2009 with former NBL player Anthony Stewart.
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