Canterbury Rams announce the signing of Toby Gillooly

The Canterbury Rams would like to announce the signing of Toby Gillooly, for the 2019 Sal’s NBL Season. This announcement comes as new Rams head coach Mick Downer’s seventh addition to the team. Toby is currently working hard in preseason training in preparation for the upcoming 2019 NBL season.

Toby Gillooly started his NBL career playing a couple seasons for the Canterbury Rams before heading over to the United States in 2017. He played his college basketball at New Mexico Highlands University and The University of St Thomas. On return, he joined the Nelson Giants for last years NBL season. Toby was also a part of the NZ U19 team that travelled to Egypt for the FIBA U19 World Cup in 2017.

Caleb Harrison General Manager of the Canterbury Rams is looking forward to seeing Toby in action again for the Rams, commenting

“Toby was an instrumental player for past Burnside High School teams and Canterbury representative teams.  We hope that he can bring great energy on the defensive end and pursue both offensive & defensive rebounds.  For our local basketball community it will be fun seeing Toby back in the Red & Black singlet.”

Toby’s success at Burnside High School, playing rep basketball and also his involvement with the Mainland Eagles he has been an important piece to a lot of local basketball teams. He boasts a wide skill set where he can do a bit of everything on the court, and he also gets involved in off court activities – recently coaching at various basketball camps around Christchurch. He played extremely well against the St Marys Gaels US Division 1 team which came to New Zealand last year as a part of their preseason tour. We are excited to see what Toby can bring to the court for the Rams in 2019!

The Rams are coming off a season in which 6,000 attended the Rams vs Saints game at Horncastle Arena which was a Sals NBL Record Crowd.  The team is looking forward to taking 2 games to Horncastle Arena in 2019. 

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About the Canterbury Rams-

The Canterbury Rams have been revived by a group of basketball enthusiasts with a combination of business and basketball acumen and experience who are committed to establishing a long-term and successful Canterbury Rams franchise that plays a significant role in increasing the numbers participating in community basketball, provides an aspirational development pathway for our talented Canterbury youngsters and contributes to community re-development in Christchurch.

The objectives of the Canterbury Rams involved are philanthropic in nature which is reflected in the fact that the sole beneficiary (limited partner) of the Canterbury Rams is a charitable trust established for the benefit of growing basketball and community development. The vision for the Canterbury Rams is:

1. For the Rams to contribute significantly to the growth of basketball throughout the region with a highly performing and well run elite team greatly enhancing the profile and popularity of basketball.
2. For the Rams players and coaches to directly benefit junior talent through the region.  Youngsters throughout the region will receive coaching from high quality coaches and their heroes, inspiring them to work towards their goals.  The support the Rams receive through physiotherapy, podiatry, strength & conditioning, nutrition and sport psychology will also be provided for young up and coming juniors in the region.  The Rams will provide a pathway, exposure and access for a significantly greater number of Canterbury players to play successfully at the higher levels.
3. For the Rams to facilitate and provide development opportunities and a pathway for coaches throughout the region.  By supporting regular group coaching clinics and mentoring opportunities for the coaches in Canterbury, the sharing of knowledge will raise the standard of basketball.  Coaches will get access to the latest coaching methodology and through a common goal of developing basketball players, Canterbury’s coaching network will continue to grow.
4. For the Rams to assist in providing a development pathway for young talented players who currently struggle to participate due to the extensive financial commitment required through the establishment of a Rams ‘scholarship’ system for promising players that puts a mentoring and financial support structure around them as required.
5. For the Rams to make a major contribution to not only the basketball community but also to the Christchurch re-build through bringing an outstanding entertainment option to the city and contributing to the development of best practice basketball and community programmes.