Posted on Thursday, May 25th, 2017
Basketball Australia is pleased to announce the coaching panels that will lead teams at the 2017 FIBA Oceania Under-17 Championships to be held in Hagatna, Guam July 9-16.
Experienced WNBL and NBL mentor Tracy York will be at the helm of the women’s team for the event, which is the first phase of the qualification process for the 2019 FIBA Under-19 World Championships.
While the 2017 Under-19 World Champs have not begun yet, the busy FIBA schedule has dictated preparations to already begin for two years time.
A former WNBL head coach with the Adelaide Lightning, York is currently an assistant coach with the Adelaide 36ers in the National Basketball League and has extensive experience across all levels of the sport in Australia.
In 2016, she was an assistant coach with the gold medal winning Sapphires, who claimed the ultimate prize at the FIBA Under 17 World Championships in Spain.York will be assisted by Townsville Fire WNBL head coach Claudia Brassard and 2016/17 University of Canberra Capitals assistant coach Reece Potter.
You can find out more information about the Under-17 Oceania Champs, including Australia’s schedule, here.
The men’s team will be led by respected Dandenong SEABL coach Darren Perry, who has led Victoria Metropolitan to consecutive national championships at the 2016 and 2017 Helloworld Australian Under 18-Championships.
A former point guard in the NBL, Perry played 250 games for six clubs after a stellar junior career that saw him represent Australia at the 1987 FIBA Under 19 World Championships. Moving into coaching, Perry claimed the 2014 SEABL Coach of the Year and has been at the helm of the Victorian Metropolitan Under 18 team for the last two years.
Perry will be assisted by former Victoria Giants NBL assistant coach and long-time SEABL head coach Grant Wallace, along with NSW Metropolitan Under 18 men’s team coach Robbie McKinlay.
Find out more information about the Under-17 Oceania Champs, including Australia’s schedule, here.
In other coaching appointments, current National Basketball League assistant coaches Mike Kelly (Melbourne United) and Jamie O’Loughlin (Perth Wildcats) have been named as assistant coaches for the Australian World University Games men’s team to contest The Universiade in Taiwan in August.
The two experienced coaches will join head coach Mark Radford on the coaching panel for the event.
Bendigo Spirit WNBL head coach Simon Pritchard and Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence mentor Kristen Veal have been named as assistant coaches for the World University Games women’s team, which will be led by Adelaide Lightning coach Chris Lucas.
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