I cannot tell you how excited I am to be here in Brighton and coaching the Bears.

I have continued south on my coaching journeys in England and now find myself on the coast and couldn't be happier.

Last season I was fortunate to lead the London Towers to the Southern Conference title after leading the Manchester Giants to the Wembley Championship in 1999. I came here to bring that same sort of on court success to the Bears!

You may be aware that I have also just recently bought into the team as a part owner. I have been around this league and truly believe we have all the necessary ingredients here in Brighton to be successful off the floor as well.

The tremendous facilities we play in at the Brighton Centre and the Triangle in Burgess Hill, our training facilities at the University of Sussex in Falmer are all top of the range and a big attraction.

I also see a community that will support their local teams if given a team to get behind. Lastly, the city itself if fabulous. I have lived and coached in Manchester, Birmingham and London and Brighton is by far my favourite place to live.

Enough of that and let's talk about our team, the new look Bears. We are just coming off our second successive win this week and have levelled our record at 2-2 which puts us amazingly in joint second in the Southern Conference table.

Wilbur Johnson and Mike Brown have returned from a year ago to join forces with Randy Duck, Sterling Davis, and the latest arrival Albert White. This is an exciting and extremely talented group of players who should become very cohesive as time goes by.

Throw in our nice mix off the bench of Errol Seaman, Mark Jackson, and Chris Wright and this team just might challenge for honours. Quite a lofty goal, but one which I expect and think is realistic for this team.

We have a week off from league action this weekend as we play in the NTL National Cup away to Chester. A difficult draw as they are currently on top of the Northern Conference but we will go up there and give them a battle, that I can assure you.

Then next Saturday is a big one in the league as the Sheffield Sharks come to the Brighton Centre for a 7pm tip-off. Sheffield have won the North for the last two seasons and should do it again.

It will be a great test for us to see where we are. I feel we are ready for this test although it may be a bit premature, we want to see where we stack up with the big boys because that is where we want to be.

Come out and support your Bears, I know you will proud of their effort and you will love their enthusiasm for the game. They really are a fun team to watch. See you at the game.