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Auckland City Harbour News : May 18th 2012
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www.aucklandnow.co.nz Friday, May 18, 2012 Pirate with big heart Tall order: Professional basketballer Ron Dorsey is dividing his time between playing for the Auckland Pirates and running a coaching clinic at Saint Kentigern School. Photos: JASON OXENHAM Talented, right: Ron Dorsey, left, used to play for the Melbourne Tigers but is now a member of the Auckland Pirates. He is pictured on court with New Zealand Breakers centre Gary Wilkinson during a Breakers v Tigers game in January. Go to aucklandcityharbournews. co.nz and click on Latest Edition to see a video of Ron Dorsey playing for the Cairns Taipans during a game against the New Zealand Breakers. By ROSE FRENCH DID YOU KNOW: Ron Dorsey plays guard/forward for the Auckland Pirates He was born in Detroit, USA, on November 2, 1983 He is 1.97 metres tall Dorsey has played two seasons for the Cairns Taipans and the Melbourne Tigers He's also played professionally in Finland, Lithuania and France and was invited to training camp with the NBA's San Antonio Spurs in 2010. -- aucklandpirates.co.nz AUCKLAND Pirates basket- ball import Ron Dorsey is keen to make a difference in the community. The 28-year-old joined the team on March 31 after playing for the Melbourne Tigers and says he is here to win the National Basketball League Championship. I'm playing this game to win as many championships as possible, and I'm going to continue playing until my legs fall off,'' he says. But off court, the Auckland city-based athlete is passion- ate about using his sporting skills to help out the com- munity. Every Tuesday afternoon Dorsey spends 90 minutes teaching skills and drills to a group of 9 and 10-year-olds at Saint Kentigern School in Remuera. I teach them a lot of new things -- some of the drills we are taking straight from our practices with the Melbourne Tigers and the Auckland Pirates. They brought me into their group with open arms, they want to learn and I want to teach them.'' Saint Kentigern School director of sport Duncan Grant says Dorsey is well received. The boys love him, they absolutely love going.'' Grant says that a lot of children involved don't want to take part in team sports. He says sport is compul- sory at the school, so if they don't want to play rugby, foot- ball or hockey they have to play basketball. Ron has to motivate them to participate and he's been good at that. A lot of these kids don't play basketball, so he has to teach them skills and drills and get them engaged into activity.'' Dorsey comes from Detroit and has been playing profes- sional basketball outside of the United States for seven years. In 2010/11 he helped the Cairns Taipans to the ANBL Grand Final, where they were runners-up to the New Zealand Breakers. Almost all the players in the Pirates club have coaching jobs, and in Dorsey's mind you have to want to give back to the kids. I was once in their shoes, wanting to interact with NBA players and things like that growing up in Detroit. I grew up playing basket- ball in the backyard with my three brothers, and where I'm from that's pretty much it,'' he says. Dorsey says when he has finished playing basketball he wants to become a univer- sity coach. We don't have a lot of coaches or motivational people who are really putting the time into the kids in the community in Detroit right now, so when I do go back this summer I'm going to vol- unteer some time and help them. It would be a plus for me seeing the kids in Detroit make progress and succeed to higher levels.'' The Pirates are second on the NBL table at the moment and are two games away from the playoffs. You can follow Dorsey's journey to the playoffs via twitter @RonnyRealNice. The NBL finals will take place at the TSB Bank Arena in Wellington on May 26 and 27. 4 Need a website & don't have one? 66% of customers research online before making a purchase.* Let the Auckland City Harbour News create one for you at a super low cost! slide show map profile contact details www.roomoutsidelandscapes.co.nz Contact your representative for a demo. Phone 09 630 5419 *Source: MYOB Study 2010-2011
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