Media Release

Wednesday 19 June 2013

“No dickheads” at the SKYCITY Breakers

There’s no dickheads in the SKYCITY Breakers team or working for the franchise, head coach Dean Vickerman told 300 guests at the Breaking out the Big Guns dinner on Monday.[17 June].

“The no dickhead policy - it’s a very simple policy. Instead, we want to know do you put family first? Are you honest? Do you make good choices? Do you have a good work ethic? If you say ‘no’ to any of those you might fall into the dickhead category and that’s not what the Breakers are about.”

Vickerman addressed the crowd of Gisborne business leaders, sports coaches, and health sector representatives for nearly an hour at the corporate dinner which was the highlight of the SKYCITY Breakers Are You Ready to be a Champion Tour. High school students got the benefit of the Breakers company yesterday before the team and coaches flew out from Gisborne in the afternoon. [Tuesday 18 June].

Vickerman has been head coach of the franchise for two months. Under the previous coach, the SKYCITY Breakers became just the second team in Australian National Basketball League history to win three consecutive championships. Vickerman said strong succession planning had seen him nurtured and fostered into the position of head coach. “I am the product of succession planning. I’ve had three years to get ready for the head coach job and in time the assistant coaches will be in the position to be head coach after me.”

Vickerman remained undaunted at the challenge of becoming the only team to win four back-to-back championships. A vigorous player and team assessment earlier this year has given the franchise a roadmap for success. They developed a team identity or trademark and labelled it ‘CHUR’. What each letter stands for is private to the franchise but Vickerman said it related to the quality of person needed to help them towards their goal. He says the franchise used to recruit on talent, “but we now also recruit to CHUR. Does this person have all the qualities to fit into our organisation, our wider family?”

Like all families Vickerman says they sometimes have problems. As a coach he has only “so many bullets” to fire to improve things. Taking a different approach, SKYCITY Breakers players are encouraged to take care of any issues whether it be a player using drugs and or alcohol, or an on court situation. A player found to have a drug problem was banned from the club for a year, and the players decided on a penalty. “He wasn’t a bad person but we made him go and work for a while. He got a second chance and now he moves on. Having the players take on that level of accountability for our standards helps the coaching staff enormously. We don’t need so many bullets.”

Wrapping up the presentation Vickerman said a question the players are required to ask of themselves every day is ‘Did I get better today?’. The question can be applied in any environment: on the sports field or court, or at work. “Wins and losses are always going to happen but in the end you want to be able to say you got better today”.

The evening was a huge success according to Turanga Health’s Dwayne Tamatea who helped host a live-from-the-couch question and answer session with SKYCITY Breakers players Alex Pledger, CJ Bruton, Jeremiah Trueman, coach Judd Flavell and Tall Black Hayden Allen. The crowd was treated to plenty of laughs as the tall men of sport recalled their historic wins.

“These guys have been flat out for the past three days visiting schools and sharing the Breakers policy around family values as well as giving them plenty of tips on how to improve their game. We are enormously grateful to have had them here.”

Image: SKYCITY Breakers head coach Dean Vickerman reveals there are no dickheads at the franchise during Breaking out the Big Guns dinner.Image: Lexi Green.

ENDS

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