Camberwell Dragons Announce 1^st coaches for season 2014/15

We are proud to announce the appointment of our 1^st coaches for season 2014/15. 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.

 

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U12 Head Coach – Stuart Ellis

Stuart Ellis returns to the Dragons for the 2014-15 season excited about the challenge to develop the U12/1 Boys as well as strengthen our improving under 12 program. Stuart has previously been an U18 assistant coach as well as a former junior of the club. Stuart has been coaching for many years with our affiliated domestic club the Koonung Comets and stearing his boys to be consistently in the hunt for A grade titles. He is a coach who is very focussed on skill development and intends in challenging these boys and really pushing them to the limit.

U14 Head Coach – Mark Jeffers

Mark Jeffers is once again the head coach of the under 14 age group for what will be his fourth year in a row. This year he achieved tremendous results with his boys competing in Victorian Championship for the season and managing to qualify for final. Mark has also been working with Basketball Victoria’s U16 NITP program as well as coaching the U14 girls at the last Southern Cross Challenge event. Whilst Mark is heavily involved as Boys Coordinator at our domestic affiliate Koonung Comets he has also worked hard to improve players across all age groups at Dragons. He has a very keen interest in skill development as well as ensuring that he improves the players basketball IQ. Mark will once again be hoping that he is able to guide his U14 boys to Victorian Championship for a second straight year.

U16 Head Coach – Nick Zappalla

Nick Zappalla is about to embark on a new challenge in his coaching career. Whilst achieving great results with his U20-1 boys last year, narrowly missing out on VJBL1 finals he will be hoping to go one better in the 2014-15 season. Nick has great skill development and really knows how to get the best out of his players both at training and in games. Nick is also a former Camberwell Dragons junior and is currently aspiring to earn a scholarship to play basketball in the US. He is really looking forward to be able to pass on his knowledge about the game to the U16 age group and get the boys being the best they can be.

U18 Head Coach – Justin Boyd

Justin Boyd has been a very loyal servant to the club for many years. The current club President will once again be taking the reins of the U18 boys program which saw his 2014 team make Victorian Championship finals. Justin loves pushing his boys to the limits and esnuring they have a balance and understanding of an untempto and structured style of game. Justin, who also coaches at Camberwell Dragons affilaited club Balwyn Blazers, has been at Camberwell since he was a player himself in the U16 program. He expects a lot from his players as they expect a lot from the coaching staff. Players are tested and questioned physically and mentally throughout the course of the season as the U18 program prepares those athletes pushing for Youth League and Big V playing spots. He is excited about the challenge of developing the U18 program to even further strength again.

U20 Head Coach – Mark Jeffers

Mark will also be coaching the U20 Men for the 2014-15 VJBL season. Being a BigV veteran he has taken on this new challenge to help aid the transition from junior basketball into the BigV ranks for our Camberwell juniors. He feels as though he has the knowledge and understanding of the game to be able to take these U20 Men to be the best they can be.

 

WOMEN

12-1 Girls- Prue Ainsworth

Prue Ainsworth will be continuing her work over the last few years in the under 12s program with a strong focus on teaching the fundamentals to our youngest Dragons. Prue is coming off a successful 2013/14 season where she successfully took her team deep into the finals series. Prue is looking to strengthen her program and take her team all the way in season 2014/15. She is a Camberwell junior and is currently playing in the Div 1 women’s team, with years of coaching experience under her belt the under 12 program is in good hands for the upcoming year.

14-1 Girls- Cara Jeffers

In what was a very successful year for the under 14 program, Cara Jeffers returns for a third year with the 14 girls after an outstanding season with her girls playing deep into VC reserve finals. After her ‘Coach of the Year award’ for 2013/14 we are confident the under 14 program will develop further under the guidance of Cara bringing her experience and knowledge to help improve the girls. Her tough approach and willingness to push the girls to their maximum will show great reward throughout the year.

Looking after our 16s, 18s and 20s (in alphabetical order) is

Jamie Campbell

After a successful 2013/14 Jamie looks to take his girls one step closer next year and claim the title after being knocked out late in the finals series this year. Jamie came to Camberwell after previously coaching at Nunawading and Ringwood. We look forward to working with Jamie to improve and push the girls next year.

Charlotte Grieve

Charlotte steps up an age group looking to coach a more structured style of game with a bit more of a tactical challenge. Charlotte has years of experience coaching both domestic and representative basketball and is looking to inspire her team and bring out the best in them. She has played Div 1 women for a very long time but has stepped away from that and will focus on developing and working with our juniors a lot more. We look forward to having Charlotte rise to the challenge this season and take her girls to another level in their game.

Elyce Lambrou

Elyce returns after a year off coaching to share her expertise with the older half of the junior program. She has been captain of our Div 1 side for the last two years, and has been reappointed this year. Elyce has an impressive playing resume including competing in multiple Junior classics and having the opportunity to go to Nationals, she will be looking to add a coaching title to her name. Since joining she has coached the 12.2’s as well as some junior domestic coaching along the way, but could never do more because of study. Now she has finished and is excited to be a part of the future of Camberwell juniors. She will be an asset to the coaching team and her program will develop through her expertise and love for the game.

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