# 14 - Bob Turner: The Power of Discipline, Fan Engagement, and Coaching Legacy in Sports
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Episode Summary
In this episode, Ian and Bob talked about his journey from UC Santa Barbara to Australia, where he became a prominent role in basketball. He emphasised his involvement in the development of the Sydney Kings, favouring community engagement and marketing. Turner expounded on his coaching philosophy, emphasising the significance of accessibility, motivation, and discipline. He detailed the Kings' accomplishments, which included financial stability and back-to-back championships.
- Ian Hawkins shares his personal connection with Bob Turner, recalling a memorable interaction from his university days.
- Bob highlights the importance of community engagement and marketing in building the Sydney Kings' success.
- Bob shares his approach to managing self-doubt and building confidence through research and experience.
- How Bob shares his philosophy of "getting in and having a go" and the importance of taking opportunities to make a difference.
About the Guest:
Bob Turner is one of Australia’s most recognisable and respected sports personalities. Best known for his basketball coaching, marketing and administration, Bob is renowned throughout many businesses and sporting organisations for his marketing and management ability and his pioneering work with NBL teams the Canberra Cannons, Newcastle Falcons, Singapore Slingers and the Sydney Kings. Bob developed marketing and sponsorship programs that set the standard for the NBL during the early 80’s and early ‘90s. He was honoured by the NBL in 1999 as a Hall of Fame inductee and in 2023 was inducted into the Basketball NSW Hall of Fame. His personal success as a basketball player, coach, marketer, administrator and businessman combine to make him an authority and excellent speaker on a variety of issues including team building, motivation, success and leadership. Bob has built a unique skill set over 47 years in Australia and has proudly earned a reputation as 'Mr. Have A Go'!
Bob has been actively engaged as Head Coach, General Manager, Managing Director and part owner of four NBL teams and in 2010 was the driving force in the resurrection of the Sydney Kings. His media profile and access to high profile decision makers in the sporting, political and business arenas, combined with strong credibility and hard work ethic, has produced an individual with proven ability to tackle a challenge. Those skills were put to the test in 2006 with the creation and implementation of the Singapore Slingers, one of the last teams to join the NBL. The Slingers are now playing in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) the first professional sports league for the ASEAN block of countries, a competition pioneered by the Slingers and
Bob’s Chairman Tony Fernandes of AirAsia.
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Bob Turner came to Australia from the USA in 1976 to play basketball. He stayed, became an Australian citizen, and forged a highly successful career in sport and business – as a player, coach, marketer, manager, motivator and professional sport owner. 1995 was Bob’s seventh season as head coach of the Sydney Coca-Cola Kings and the last of his fourteen seasons overall as a head coach in the National Basketball League. At that time, he was the second most successful active coach in the league – 223 wins at 61.3% Through a distinguished coaching career Bob is one of an elite group of coaches to be awarded the prestigious NBL Coach of the Year Award twice, in 1981 with the Newcastle Falcons and in 1985 with the Canberra Cannons. Bob is also one of a handful of coaches in the forty five year history of the National Basketball League to win more than one championship, guiding the Canberra Cannons to back-to-back titles in 1983 and 1984. He was also the youngest coach in NBL history to win an NBL Championship. This illustrious record stamps him as one of the greatest coaches in the history of the National Basketball League (NBL). In 1999 he was inducted into the NBL Hall of Fame. In 2023 Basketball NSW also inducted Bob into their Hall of Fame. Over the years, Bob has combined his leadership and marketing skills to promote a variety of sports including Baseball, Gymnastics, Football, Lawn Bowls, Speedway, Basketball and now Ice Hockey. In 2003 he put his talents to work with Sports Marketing and Management (SMAM), a company responsible for the sponsorship programs for the Australian Olympic Committee, Commonwealth Games and Australian Swimming.
In July 2004, Bob was appointed General Manager of Sporting Spectrum – one of Australia and Singapore’s leading event management companies at the time. Sporting Spectrum’s expansion into Asia is what led Bob to one of his biggest challenges, the Singapore Slingers. On March 14th, 2006, the NBL announced the inclusion of a Singapore based team to the League, a franchise totally pioneered, negotiated and structured by Bob, in partnership with the Singapore Sports Council. Two months later, on the 23rd of the May the Singapore Slingers were unveiled tipping off their first game on the 20th of September of that year. Bob was Managing Director and a principal shareholder in the organization with the team making the NBL playoffs in their first season.
The Singapore Slingers withdrew from the Australian League in July, 2008 in preference to playing games in the Asian region, initially through a ‘Challenge Series’. Bob, the Slingers and their Chairman, Tony Fernandes from AirAsia, were instrumental in the successful launch of the first professional sports league for the ASEAN block of countries in any sport, the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL). The Slingers played their opening game of the ABL on October 11th, 2009, against the Brunei Barracudas in the 11,000 seat Singapore Indoor Stadium. In February, 2010, Bob turned his attention and skills once again towards resurrection of the Sydney Kings as General Manager. After two years with no team in Sydney due to the Kings financial difficulties, Bob led a team to re-enter the NBL competition on October 16, 2010 playing to a full house at the 10,400 seat Sydney Entertainment Centre. Despite a losing season on the court, in the last game of the season the Kings played in front of 9,535 to lead the NBL in average attendance, web traffic and merchandise sales. As General Manager, Bob was the driving force in re-establishing the credibility of the iconic Sydney Kings brand. Following the re-building of the Kings franchise, Bob joined forces with one of his other sporting passions, baseball, and set about building the profile and acceptance of the Australian Baseball League as Chairman of the Sydney Blue Sox and Chief Advisor to Baseball NSW.
In March, 2013, Bob moved to the Not For Profit sector and joined the Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF) as General Manager Marketing & Business Development. His responsibility was to raise the profile and income levels of the organisation to distribute to the scientists conducting vital cancer research. He successfully launched the Top Level Domain. CancerResearch on World Cancer Day, February 4th, 2015, a first for any charity in the World.
In June, 2015, Bob became Chairman of Sportsyear, the Number One brand in Australia for the provision of sporting fixtures around the World and data compiled through the ‘Sportsyear Engine’. The Annual ‘Sportsyear Report’ was launched in December, 2015, in conjunction with the release of the 2015 Sportsyear Diary!
In May of 2017, Bob was head hunted by Not for Profit BREED Australia to become their Managing Director. He took on the challenge to rebuild BREED into a ‘Community Innovator Breeding New Beginnings’.
In February, 2021, Bob was appointed Executive Chairman of Blacktown City FC. Bob accepted this challenge to build the historical club into a major sporting team for the city of Blacktown and fill their Home Stadium of 5,000 on a regular basis.
In June, 2021, Bob was also head hunted as Chairman of a new sports software – Squadnet. The app is designed to assist community sport as a communication tool in line with its slogan ‘club sport made easy’!
In late 2023, Bob added to his resume as Director of Commercial for the Australian Ice Hockey League and Chairman of Super 6 High Performance.
Bob is married to Dr. Alison Turner and has three children – Jason, Rachel and Megan.
Link/s:
About the Host:
Ian Hawkins, host of "Sport Is Life," is dedicated to showing how sports can transform lives. With extensive experience as an athlete, a coach, PE teacher, community volunteer, and manager at Fox Sports, Ian brings a wealth of knowledge to the podcast. His journey began in his backyard, mentored by his older brother, and has since evolved into coaching elite athletes and business leaders. Ian's commitment to sports and personal development is evident in his roles as a performance coach and active community member. Through "Sport Is Life," Ian shares inspiring stories and valuable lessons to help listeners apply sports principles to all areas of life.
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