Head Coach Tom Sadler has overseen a turnaround in Essex Rebels’ recent form and been recognised for his efforts with the Molten WBBL Coach of the Month award for November. 

He led the team to a perfect month as they won all three of their important contests, climbing up into the WBBL Championship Play-off places and also reaching the WBBL Cup semi-finals.  

In league play there were two road wins over Newcastle Eagles and Nottingham Wildcats, which significantly resulted in them going above both opponents into sixth in the table. 

Perhaps most significantly, in the middle of the month they beat Durham Palatinates to reach the WBBL Cup semi-finals for the first time in their five seasons in the top flight. In that game, Rebels emerged from Coach Sadler’s half time team-talk to stifle their opponents with a 13-0 surge over six minutes, not allowing their visitors a single score in that time to establish a double-digit cushion that they held at the end. 

Similarly, their most recent victory over Nottingham saw them do likewise, overturning a deficit around the half time break and producing a 17-7 third quarter to take a double-figure advantage over their hosts that they would not relinquish. 

Both of those performances are fitting with the character of Sadler’s team, as their formidable defence held opponents to just 57 points per game in November, good enough for the third best defence in the league in that time. At the other end, they score the fourth most points in the WBBL as the third best three-point shooting team and, demonstrating their aggression, the team that shoots the most free-throws. 

In their other league win, his coaching mettle was tested as they were tied with Newcastle heading into the final 30 seconds, before scoring the last four points. All this comes after Rebels had started the season with three straight defeats. 

Rebels now face a challenging December as they host rivals for the top four Sheffield Hatters and Sevenoaks Suns in the WBBL Championship, before meeting Leicester Riders in the WBBL Cup semi-final in the week before Christmas.