Camberwell Dragons Announce 1^st coaches for season 2014

We are proud to announce the appointment of our 1^st coaches for season 2014. We are very excited about the continued growth of the program and the high calibre of coaching staff dedicated to our program and players, and look forward to a successful year.

Girls

12s – Prue Ainsworth

Continuing her developmental structure over the past three years, Prue has seen a championship and a very narrow loss to add to her experience coaching at the highest level. Prue plays in the Camberwell Division 1 women’s team and has been a long-term coach for the Balwyn Blazers She is looking forward to another new bunch of girls to introduce and develop into representative basketball players.

14s – Cara Jeffers

After seeing the light coming across from the Bulleen Boomers after successfully guiding her 14-2s to a VJBL2 Grand Final in 2012, Cara continued her success by guiding her Camberwell U14s to a narrow Grand Final defeat in 2013. Cara has a long history at Camberwell Dragons affiliate club Koonung Comets as both a player and coach. With a strong focus on transition play there is no doubt that her U14 girls will once again be one of the most exciting teams to watch in 2014.

16s – Steve Callinan

After a few years away from the sport, Steve returns to make an impact, and bring his unique coaching style to our under 16s program. Steve’s coaching style is one that was successful in his previous stint with the Camberwell Dragons; the girls will be a disciplined and aggressive unit under his guidance.

18s – Jamie Campbell

Jamie comes to Camberwell from a long and successful history at Nunawading and Ringwood. The knowledge he has gained at these clubs will no doubt help our U18 girls achieving great success in 2014. Jamie is very excited to be working with a new group and wants to do his part in preparing the girls for senior basketball.

20s – John Wilford

John comes into his third year working with the U20 women as he assists with guiding them through the transition between junior and senior basketball. He has been working with Brian Vaughns for the past 2 years, learning all the skills he requires in order to achieve success with these girls. John has been the assistant coach to the Div 1 Women’s Big V team for the last two years as well as being heavily involved in the clubs MMBL program with some deep finals campaigns.

Boys

12s – TBA

14s – Mark Jeffers

VJBL VC player at Bulleen and Eltham, 2 x winner of Big V “Golden Hands” award, 2011 National Junior Classic winning coach, and long-term Koonung coach and player. Mark will be also involved in the NITP Basketball Victoria Program in 2014, the first coach at Dragons to have this opportunity. He has been the U14 head coach for the past 2 season with the Dragons and will continue to develop these young athletes.

16s – Julian Fields

Recently awarded “Coach of the Year” by Big V and the Championship winning coach, Julian returns to head the U16 age group. It is very exciting to have Julian back involved with the boys program; he will share his playing knowledge and well as his coaching experience with all players.

18s – Justin Boyd

Having been involved in the U18 program over the past years, he returns to head the U18 program for season 2014. After having Championship success in 2012 and making the finals in 2013, he is well placed to lead the U18 age group in a positive direction.

20s – Nick Zappala

A Dragons junior, Nick has been given an opportunity to work with some highly skilled players who have aspirations to be involved in the Senior Program. Nick will be able to share and touch on his playing experiences directly with his playing group. Welcome Nick to your first season as a Dragons coach.