Basketball Victoria would like to congratulate the following coaches, assistant coaches and team managers on their appointments to Victorian State Team Coaching and Staff positions in 2023.
Jo Wood (Frankston) will take charge of the Victorian Under-20 Women, after being part of the successful 2022 gold medal winning team as an assistant coach, with Braden Cotter (Knox), Darren Best (BV), Matt Bongetti (Eltham) also earning their first head coaching appointments with Victorian state teams.
Returning to the Victorian state team program as head coaches are Australian Junior Championships winning head coach Dom Linossier (Knox) as well as Matt Shanahan (Warrandyte) to round out an elite group of new additions to the 2023 AJC coaching staff.
Returning to the head coaching roles for another campaign include 2022 Australian Junior Championship winning coaches Joe Borg (Ivor Burge Women) and Michael Brookens (Victoria Metropolitan Under-18 Women) as well as Jason Bryant (Kevin Coombs Cup), Haydn Kirkwood (Victoria Country Under-18 Women), Brenton O’Brien (Victoria Country Under-18 Men), Jacqui O’Neill (Victoria Metropolitan Under-18 Women), Mat Holmes (Victoria Country Under-16 Women and Josh Waight (Victoria Country Under-16 Men).
Basketball Victoria CEO Nick Honey said it was pleasing to have an amazing pool of elite coaches put their hands up for Victorian state team positions including a mix of new and experienced state team coaches as part of Basketball Victoria’s 2023 coaching group.
“We’re excited to see the next generation of Victorian state team coaches and staff members commence their preparations for the 2023 Australian Junior Championships,” Honey said. “Basketball Victoria’s High Performance program has continued to go from strength-to-strength.
“In spite of the challenging circumstances of the last few years, we see great results each year in our sensational Victorian state teams and their superb coaching staff.
“This is a fantastic group of coaches and staff members we’ve assembled for the 2023 Australian Junior Championships, and I’d like to thank everyone who nominated for roles in our state team program as well as those who were successful as they strive for greatness with their Victorian state teams.”
We’d like to thank Tamie Harvey, Mark Watkins, Julia Walsh and Darren Perry for their valuable assistance with the Victorian state team interviews and selections.
Victorian teams won four championships at the 2022 Australian Junior Championships – with the Victorian Under-20 Women, Ivor Burge Women, Under-18 Metropolitan Women and Under-16 Metropolitan Men winning titles. We also claimed three silver medals and two bronze medals to cap off an impressive return to the full schedule of events in 2022 following lockdowns and border restrictions in 2020 and 2021.
Basketball Victoria sends 15 state teams to Australian Junior Championships each year, with female and male participants from both Metropolitan and Country areas featuring in teams including our Ivor Burge (athletes with an intellectual disability), Kevin Coombs Cup (wheelchair basketball), Under-16, Under-18 and Under-20 teams.
The 2023 Australian Junior Championships schedule is still to be finalised with further announcements as soon as available.
Orignal Piece by Basketball Victoria
VICTORIAN 2023 STATE TEAM COACHES AND STAFF
VICTORIAN UNDER-20 WOMEN
Head Coach: Jo Wood – Frankston
VICTORIAN UNDER-16 METROPOLITAN MEN
Development Coach: Brad Szalek – Frankston
Team Manager: Paul Groat – Frankston