Kingston Wildcats
Encyclopedia
History
Kingston Wildcats are a basketballBasketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
team from Kingston
Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the...
, who competed in the English Basketball League
English Basketball League
The English Basketball League is a semi-professional and amateur basketball league in England. It forms the second-tier of competition below the professional British Basketball League....
Men's leagues. They now compete in the Surrey League. The team was founded in 1983 and played as Tolworth Reckers in the Surrey League until 1994 when as Chessington Wildcats they moved up to the regional NBL Division Three South. In 1996 they were promoted to the national NBL
NBL
NBL may refer to:* Any of several basketball leagues named National Basketball League** National Basketball League , the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in Australasia** National Basketball League...
Division 2.
The team changed their name to Kingston Dogs in an attempt to improve its profile in 1998 and this coupled with some shrewd recruiting culminated in winning the Division Two Play off final at Wembley beating the highly fancied Manchester Magic
Manchester Magic
Manchester Magic is an English basketball team from Manchester, competing in the English Basketball League, Division 3. They play their home games at the Amaechi Basketball Centre, which was funded by former NBA star John Amaechi....
. An automatic place in Division One was initially denied due to the capacity at Chessington Sports Centre being below the 500 stipulated for the division.
In 2000 to take their place in Division One they moved to Tolworth Recreation Centre. TRC had hosted top flight basketball in the 70's and 80's when Kingston Kings were one of the best teams in the country, however a large investment by both Kingston Council and Kingston Wildcats was required to get the centre's equipment up to the required standard.
The club withdrew from the EBL prior to the 2006/07 season due to financial problems, and returned to the Surrey League. In 2007/08 the club entered the National Founders Cup, getting to the final where they lost by one point to London Lithuanians. In 2008/09 a win against Kings Lynn Ironwolf in the final of same competition gave the club their second trophy on the national stage. In 2009/10 an injury depleted team lost in the final once again to London Lithuanians this time by one point. In 2010/11 Kingston reached the final again, but lost 79 -70 to London Rocco's Raiders.
Season-by-season National League records
| Season | Division | Position | Played | Won | Lost | Points | Play Offs | National Trophy |
National Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingston Wildcats | |||||||||
| 2005–2006 | |EBL Div1 | |9th | 26 | 11 | 15 | 22 | |DNQ | |DNQ | | |
| 2004–2005 | |EBL Div1 | |11th | 22 | 5 | 17 | 10 | |DNQ | 1st Round | | |
| 2003–2004 | |EBL Div1 | |11th | 22 | 4 | 17 | 8 | DNQ | 1st Round | 2nd Round |
| 2002–2003 | |NBL Conf | |6th | 22 | 11 | 11 | 22 | 1st Round | 1st Round | |
| 2001–2002 | |NBL Conf | |4th | 18 | 11 | 7 | 22 | 1st Round | 1st Round | |
| 2000–2001 | |NBL Div1 | |6th | 18 | 6 | 12 | 12 | |2nd Round | Q-F's | | |
| 1999–2000 | |NBL Div2 | 3rd | 24 | 17 | 7 | 34 | Winners | ||
| 1998–1999 | |NBL Div2 | 6th | 26 | 16 | 10 | 32 | 1st Round | | | |
| Chessington Wildcats | |||||||||
| 1997–1998 | |NBL Div2 | |12th | 24 | 5 | 19 | 10 | DNQ | | | |
| 1996–1997 | |NBL Div2 | |11th | 26 | 7 | 19 | 14 | DNQ | | | |
| 1995–1996 | |NBL Div3 South | |2nd | 16 | 14 | 2 | 28 | 1st Round | | | |
| 1994–1995 | |NBL Div3 South | |4th | 18 | 12 | 6 | 214 | | | ||
- DNQ denotes Did Not Qualify.
National Founders Cup
The Founders Cup in a national cup competition for clubs not playing in the national leagues. We first entered as Chessington Wildcats whilst in a regional league in 1994. There was then a long break while we were in the full national league. In 2007 Steve Rich and Mark Bottiglia organised a return to this competition. Coached by Phil Gunner the team made four finals in a row from 2008 to 2011.| Season | Stage Reached | Against | Score | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-2011 | |Final | |London Roccos Raiders | 70 - 79 | Medway Park |
| 2009-2010 | |Final | |London Lithuanians | 60 - 61 | Edmonton Green |
| 2008-2009 | |Winners | |Kings Lynn Ironwolf | 77 - 65 | Derby |
| 2007-2008 | |Final | |Lithuanians | 82 - 83 | Derby |
| 1995-1996 | |Final | |Menwith Hill (USAF) | 152 - 169 | Two Legs |
| 1994-1995 | |Quarter-Final | |Warley | N/A | Chessington |
Trojans Wildcats Trophy
In 2009 club president Steve Burnett instigated the Trojans Wildcats Trophy. This was to become an annual game between Kingston Wildcats and Tile Hill Trojans from the Warwickshire League. The 2009 game was played at Warwick University, moving to Chessington Sports Centre in 2010. The series which is currently sponsored by Alto Clothing Ltd, now alternates between Surrey and Warwickshire venues.| Year | Location | Winners | Score | MVP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | |Tile Hill | |Tile Hill Trojans | 80 - 86 | Matt Jenner |
| 2010 | |Chessington | |Kingston Wildcats | 87 - 69 | Carl Plunkett |
| 2009 | |Warwick University | |Kingston Wildcats | 77 - 71 | Wes Chantler |