SHEFFIELD SHARKS
soccer and our club has produced
both GB Olympic Coaches and
players,” added Matischen, who is
presently Managing MLS Contracts,
a sports and events management
company.
But Matischen points to the
consistency of Sarah Backovic, a
rare breed of female CEO’s of a
male sporting club, who joined the
Sharks 15 years ago and now holds
the rudder.
Matischen has stuck by the club
from concept to founder and now
remains Chairman in its 20th Year
as the Sharks. “Consistency is key
to our success but also our greatest
challenge”, comments Matischen.
“Another key challenge for any
sporting club is sustainability and
from winning the League and Cup
in our first professional season, we
set high standards, and those are
tough to maintain both on and off
the court,” continued Matischen.
“In Chris Finch (1993-2003), we had
a player and Head Coach who was
amazingly successful and loyal,”
added Matischen.
Finch became GB Men’s Olympic
Coach in 2012 and is now Assistant
Coach with the NBA’s Houston
Rockets. The trend continued with
Peter Scantlebury MBE, who was
9 years with the club as player and
Coach and became England Coach
for the 2006 Commonwealth Games
winning bronze.
Most recently, Atiba Lyons, still only
31 years of age, is Head Coach and
is in his 7th season with the club
having won three titles.
8
ISSUE 02
“The way we resolved this was
to make ourselves into a real
community club and for many years
that has defined our organisation
working with schools, young
deprived or disadvantaged children
or inspiring children to do better in
education and life in general.”
Through the support of some
fantastic sponsors and brands,
such as BBraun Medical, LEGO,
Westfield Health, MLS, One
Health and the Child Foundation,
our message about improving the
lives and health of young people
has enabled organisations to get
involved with our club for more than
just basketball reasons.”
The future is both a challenge but
a huge opportunity for the Sharks.
“We have new board members and
the introduction of lottery winner
Karen Child and her investment and
enthusiasm has been key. We now
have plans to build our own venue
and secure our own future.
“We are well placed to become part
of Sheffield’s new Olympic Legacy
Park on which we hope to build
our own three court, multi-purpose
community arena and continue our
great tradition of producing talented
GB players and coaches and being
a force for good in our community.”