2016 Gunners and Capitals academy head coach appointments

The Gunners and Capitals Academy participate in the South East Australian Basketball League (“SEABL”), the premier winter basketball competition in Australia.

Brad Davidson has been appointed as Head Coach of the Gunners for the 2016 season. Davidson, a former player in the NBL and for the Australian Boomers, has extensive coaching experience, having lead several successful programs from the sidelines in South Australia in recent years.

Davidson is also the current National Shooting Coach and Talent Identification Manger at the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence in Canberra.

“I am really excited to be given the opportunity to be the Head Coach of the Canberra Gunners elite men’s team and be part of the development of the Gunners Academy,” he said.

“I am interested in retaining the core members of the 2015 Gunners squad and integrating local Canberra basketballers into the program.”

On the play style he expects to roll out with the Gunners program, Davidson said “…we will place an emphasis on defense and playing a brand of basketball that the players will enjoy, which will see the team put forward its best effort every night.”

Following an injury-plagued season in 2015, Head Coach Greg Evans will be back again to lead the Capitals Academy squad from the sidelines in 2016.

Evans said he will have a focus on forward planning this season, and that he is “…hoping to bring back the bulk of the local athletes that made up the squad this year, but also look to build on our junior talent.”

“We have some exceptional juniors coming through our representative programs so the goal is to incorporate some additional juniors and build on the development of the program as a whole.”

“We want to look to develop a culture where our junior athletes coming through our programs and even elite athletes outside Canberra see what we’re trying to achieve and want to be involved in this program for the long term.”

Maxwell Gratton, Chief Executive Officer of BACT on the appointments – “…BACT is very pleased with the appointments for the 2016 SEABL season.

Greg returning for another season is great for the ongoing and continued growth, strength and improvement of our women’s program. We are hopeful that Greg will build on the foundations that exists for the Capitals Academy, and assist with the development of our juniors and the pathway into our elite female program.”

“For the Gunners, our calls for Expressions of Interest fielded a strong response from experienced candidates, and following an interview process, our High Performance Committee appointed Brad as the successful candidate.”

“We are very excited to have Brad coming on board for next season. Brad is an experienced coach, and is very knowledgeable in talent identification and athlete development.

In addition, his interest in the development of our Gunners Academy squad (the team that competes in the NSW Waratah League) and of local players will assist in continuing to build the player pathway for our juniors.”

With the Head Coaching roles now filled, both Davidson and Evans will finalise their coaching staff before starting the player recruitment process for their respective squads.

BACT would also like to thank Shawn McEachin for his contribution to the Gunners program over the past two seasons. BACT wishes Shawn the best of luck with his future coaching endeavours.
The 2016 SEABL season is scheduled to tip-off in April 2016.

BACT has also announced its State Representative Program Head Coach appointments, with the full list available here: http://www.basketballact.com.au/high-performance/coaching-staff/