Isaac
Years ago

Change in direction for AIS/CoE Women's Program

NEW DIRECTION FOR BA NATIONAL CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE WOMEN'S PROGRAM IN 2014

The Basketball Australia National Centre of Excellence (CoE) women’s program will have a new look in 2014, with Jayco Australian Opals Head Coach Brendan Joyce implementing a hybrid scholarship structure.

Under the new hybrid structure, the CoE women’s program will contain a mix of young athletes, players with WNBL experience and senior players with Opals experience.

Headlining the 2014 scholarship athletes is Bendigo Spirit star Elyse Penaluna, who has battled serious injury over the past two years as she looks to return to the form that made her an Opals’ regular.

West Coast Waves centre Natalie Burton is relocating to Canberra to work with Joyce after forcing her way into the Opals squad during the Tour of China and FIBA Oceania Championships earlier this year.

Joining Penaluna and Burton in Canberra will be exciting young WNBL stars Stephanie Talbot, Carley Mijovic, Tessa Lavey, and Alicia and Keely Froling.

These players came through the AIS program before going on to play in the WNBL, with Talbot (2013) and Mijovic (2012) the winners of the past two Betty Watson WNBL Rookie of the Year awards.

Joyce said the change in philosophy reflected the need to provide support and development opportunities for talented athletes in the 19-26 age range, beyond their junior careers.

"When you’re looking to identifying future Opals, trying to identify those players at 16-to-18 years of age is really difficult," Joyce said.

“We felt that some players, particularly tall players, develop later and this program provides an opportunity for players post junior basketball to be identified and hopefully expediate that transition to the Opals through their time at the CoE.”

Youngsters Stephanie Collins and Alexandra Sharp will be joined by Kristy Wallace, Anneli Maley and Chantel-Anais Horvat as part of the women’s program.

As part of his role as the Head of the CoE Women’s Program, Joyce will drive the direction of the technical curriculum, while taking a very hands-on role with the athletes, leading their day-to-day activities in conjunction with CoE Associate Coach Paul Goriss.

A focus on the future success of the Opals on the word stage has been a major factor in the development of the hybrid scholarship program, according to Joyce.

“If you look at the team that won bronze at the 2012 London Olympic Games and we take that team four years down the track to Rio in 2016, you would have 10 players over the age of 30,” Joyce said.

“We are in a situation where really need to think outside the box, be innovative and not rest on our laurels. We believe this approach can play a big part in ensuring the Opals are continuing to strive for success on the world stage.”

In Joyce’s absence due to national team duties, Goriss will assume the duties of coaching the players though their daily training schedule.

These scholarship holders will form the CoE women’s team that will compete in the 2014 SEABL season, with day-to-day Goriss to be the team’s Head Coach.

Joyce said the opportunity to play competitive games will play a significant role ensuring the athletes are working at a high-level day in, day out.

“There’s no accountability when you just train, when you play games it has a different impact - the attitude and accountability during training changes because each week there is an end result,” Joyce said.

“The SEABL competition will be a great opportunity for these athletes to put the work we do as part of the program into a game situation.”

Scholarship holders for the women’s program will begin their stay at the CoE following the 2014 Australian Development Camp in late January, with the remaining players to join the program at the completion of the 2013/14 WNBL season.

Basketball Australia would like to congratulate the athletes awarded scholarships for the 2014 CoE women’s program.

Basketball Australia National Centre of Excellence Women’s Program Scholarship Athletes 2014

Natalie Burton (WA)
Stephanie Collins (Vic)
Alicia Froling (Qld)
Keely Froling (Qld)
Chantel-Anais Horvat (Vic)
Tessa Lavey (Vic)
Anneli Maley (Vic)
Carley Mijovic (Vic)
Elyse Penaluna (Vic)
Alexandra Sharp (Vic)
Stephanie Talbot (SA)
Kristy Wallace (Qld)

Topic #33389 | Report this topic


Dr6  
Years ago

There's some exciting players in that group. Will be great to watch them develop.

Reply #450463 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Cool very nice idea and I like Gorris as the Associate, however, does not say much for the current crop of junior female coaches if they keep pulling from the boys side... anyway good things are happening it seems

Reply #450464 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Chop the head off junior development?? Short sighted?? Recycling former athletes through an already reduced program. What else fits in here??

Reply #450523 | Report this post


Flamin Moe  
Years ago

How many will end up in Capitals colours next year?

Reply #450527 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Steph Collins really??

Reply #450616 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Penaluna ?? I can think of a dozen players who should be in front of her. This is a VERY strange direction to be heading in.

Reply #450632 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Bad news for Penaluna with another ACL injury suffered against Dandenong on Saturday night - out for potentially the next 12 months depending on what type of surgery she will opt for.

info in this article: http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/2078076/penalunas-worst-fears-realised/?cs=2459

With the COE side, will they look at replacing her and if so will they look at a younger player or someone of a similar age?
The article gives the impression she might be staying in Bendigo over winter because she says she will be watching the Lady Braves; so maybe not staying involved with the COE team at all.

Reply #456534 | Report this post




You need to be a registered user to post from this location. Register here.



Close ads
Little Streaks - The fun and interactive good-habits app designed especially for kids.
Serio: Tourism photography and videography

Advertise on Hoops to a very focused, local and sports-keen audience. Email for rates and options.

Recent Posts



.


An Australian basketball forum covering NBL, WNBL, ABL, Juniors plus NBA, WNBA, NZ, Europe, etc | Forum time is: 12:20 pm, Fri 29 Mar 2024 | Posts: 968,026 | Last 7 days: 754