SWINDON Shock player-coach David Colclough says it is just as important to get things right off the court as well as on it, as they continue to adapt to National League Division Three South.

Following their promotion last year, it hasn’t quite gone to plan for the New College side, as they are currently second from bottom, with one win under their belts.

However, Colclough was keen to highlight that the club are excelling in other aspects of the game, which he believes are equally as important if they are to compound the club’s future.

In order to do that, the Shock boss has taking the coaching reins for the side’s development team, to keep a closer eye on the youngsters who are on the club’s books.

“The youngsters are the middle of the pack in their division and we have made the pact now that I will coach them too now,” he said.

“Before that, we were sharing it between coaches and that wasn’t really having the impact that I wanted.

“At the moment we have about four players I wouldn’t mind pulling up to the National League side, but I don’t think it would be beneficial because they wouldn’t get many minutes.

“But it would be good to get them in the environment where they go through their warm-ups and things like that with us.

“I remember when I played with the Swindon Cavaliers and when we were getting older, we didn’t really take on many youngsters and it soon goes stagnant.

“Then it slowly deteriorates, so I am trying to keep a young group and it’s important we try to keep them in the game.”

Not only are the youngsters proving their worth on the court, following a small grant from Wiltshire Community Fund, the youths have been able to complete an officiating course.

With it, the club have been able to save money on table officiating costs during their National League games. That can only be a good thing, according to Colclough.

“We got a small grant from the Wiltshire Community Fund, which was great because that helped us develop the younger group,” he added.

“With that we have managed to get the youngsters through a refereeing course, so they table for us which helps us save a bit of money.

“That keeps the costs down a little bit, so when it comes to the play-offs, those costs are already covered.”