10/09/08 Plymouth Raiders Development Taking Big Strides Plymouth Raiders II’s new coach Tom Kambouris has announced the signing of a number of new players for the 08/09 season. Amongst the names that Kambouris has attracted to the team are Jamie Burchell, Solomon Ojapah, Saul Rodgers and Lee Taylor. This is in addition to 6’8” Michal Czynienik, who has also joined the team this summer. At the end of last season, Jamie Burchell accepted a full time job offer from the Raiders to become the new Head of Development. This job made it difficult for Jamie to continue playing for the BBL team, so he has opted to play for the Raiders second team in the Men’s Division 2. “I’m really looking forward to playing for the second team this year,” said Burchell. “I played for Raiders II a couple of years ago when we won Division 3 and got promoted to Division 2. My aim now is to help take this team as far as we can go. With our new coach and a host of new players, I think we’re looking pretty good.” The team is hoping to attract at least one more new name, with news that a Spanish point guard is coming to Plymouth this week to try out with Raiders II. “From what we know of him, he has experience in one of Spain’s national leagues and has been playing for a very good team there,” said Kambouris. “He expressed an interest in moving to Britain to further his education and in Plymouth in particular. He’s flying in this weekend to train with us and play in a friendly game on Saturday, so we’ll see how well we fit together then.” Plymouth Raiders II play a friendly this Saturday at home to Division 1 new boys, Cardiff Celts. The game tips off at 4.30pm and precedes the BBL team’s friendly game with Worcester Wolves. “It gives fans a chance to come and see us play,” added Kambouris. “Fans buy a ticket for the BBL game and get to come in to see the second team play for free, which is a great deal – 2 games for the price of 1!” Cardiff were promoted from Division 2 this summer, and will play with the same team that won the league last season. Raiders have worked throughout the summer to forge stronger links with the University of Plymouth, and this has resulted in Lee Taylor being selected for Raiders II for this coming season. “I’m pretty confident that there are some other players at the University who will end up playing for Raiders II this year,” said Kambouris. As part of his role with the Raiders, Kambouris will coach the University team this season. “Quite a few of the University team will play for the new Raiders III team which will play in Men’s Division 4 this season, but there are a number of others there that with a bit of extra work can definitely make the step up to Division 2.” “We’re putting a lot of effort into Raiders II and Raiders III this year,” said Burchell. “Development is now really starting to take off for the Raiders, with the news of the Academy at Ivybridge School, the link with the University of Plymouth and a number of other initiatives in the pipeline. We want to provide our players with clearly defined pathways for their development from Under 10s right through the club to the BBL team and at the same time, give the players a quality education. Recruiting Tom was one of the best steps that the club has made this season, he’s going to help us here a lot.”
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