Sturt Sabres veteran Mark Bauer bows out after 302 games to become a pilot in Hong Kong
MARK Bauer is still flying high from his 302nd and final Premier League basketball game for Sturt.
MARK Bauer is still flying high from his 302nd and final Premier League basketball game for Sturt.
The veteran capped 27 years with the Sabres by scoring four points and getting chaired off the court after the team’s 35-point home victory over Eastern Mavericks last month.
Bauer, 34, considers the match up there with his two division-one championships as career highlights.
And also the perfect send-off as he prepares to start a new chapter as a Cathy Pacific pilot in Hong Kong.
“It was just a crazy experience having all that attention on you,” Bauer says.
“They drew up the first play for me and I missed it and had a couple of cracks through the game, but they weren’t falling.
“It ended up building the suspense of the crowd because they just wanted me to make a shot and I could feel them riding me when the first one went down, and it erupted.
“It was probably the best experience of the career, nearly.”
Bauer joined Sturt as a seven year old in 1991 when his dad, Rod, a former Sabres player, was coaching the club’s Premier League women’s team.
“He was probably always planning to get me playing.
“I came along one Sunday and the under-12 girls were training on another court so he pushed me on there.
“The next week I was training with the under-10 boys.”
Bauer’s first division-one games came in 2002 under ex-Adelaide 36ers star Scott Ninnis and alongside his cousin, Paul, who was then Sturt’s captain.
The Sabres claimed the championship that same year with a triumph over Forestville.
“That whole team was incredibly talented and so deep.
“And Ninnis being who he is – you’re in awe of the whole thing and I was trying to do Year 12 at the same time, so it was an incredibly hard time.
“But I took a lot of good experiences away from it.”
Bauer, who takes pride in being a lockdown defender, says the club’s camaraderie has kept him there so long and is what he will miss the most.
“The guys really get behind everyone in the team and it’s a really good atmosphere.
“To see them get excited for you when you make a good play – often for me a good defensive play – and just coach them a little bit after all I’ve seen is something really rewarding.”
Bauer will not be lost to hoops. Cathay Pacific has a basketball team, which he is keen to play with to stay fit and get to know other staff.
“I’ll keep an eye on Sturt’s scores on the live stats website, for sure.”