Stars shining on and off the court

A who’s who of former Opals champions are imparting their knowledge on the stars of tomorrow at this week’s Foot Locker Australian Schools Championships on the Gold Coast.

Olympian and dual World Cup representative Kathy Foster is sharing her wealth of experience as head coach of Tasmania’s Guilford Young College, 2006 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Katrina Hibbert is mentoring Box Hill Senior Secondary College from Melbourne while 2006 World Cup champion Emma McDonald (nee Randall) is assistant coach of John Paul College.

McDonald lives in Brisbane, is deputy Head of Sport at the school in Daisy Hill, Logan and is travelling back and forth from the Gold Coast this week.

“Being able to give back to the younger generation and even if they pick up one or two things from the experiences I’ve had, or other coaches have had, can only be beneficial for these kids,” she said.

“I think sometimes as a former player you see things in a different light. Players who become coaches look at the floor a little bit differently because you’ve been there. It’s definitely a challenge but I love it.

“I love being able to help the young girls, seeing them enjoy their basketball and putting things they learn into action.”

Triple Olympian and dual Olympic medallist Shelley Gorman, former Sydney Flames WNBL coach and current Sydney Comets coach in NBL1 East, is leading Reddam High School.

“It’s great to see so many of our ex-Opals here sharing their experience with the kids but there’s loads of female coaches here in general which is fantastic,” she said.

“Reddam is quite an academic school, kids are getting their exam results while we’re here this week and these championships are such a great opportunity for them to play in something like this.

“It’s great to see what basketball does and that’s create lasting friendships and memories.”

Gorman’s 1996 Atlanta bronze-medal-winning team mate Allison Tranquilli is leading Templestowe College where she has been Head of Girls basketball for nearly a decade.

“I enjoy the development of the players, building relationships with them and working out what makes them tick. It’s nice if we do well as Templestowe College but predominately our goal is to make them better basketballers for their clubs and to continue on their pathway if they’re good enough for that,” she explains.

“It’s fantastic to see so many former players coaching, as it should be. Hopefully there’s some continuation with it because we have so much to offer.”