Coaching line up 2012/13 Each year as a club we aim to improve the skillsets, background and qualifications of our coaching lineup. We carefully measure the performance of our coaches, do extensive, carefully documented research on our coaches’ background and experience. The following BIOs are put together to: - Provide parents and athletes with information on the experience, qualifications and skillsets of our coaching staff. - Demonstrate to our coaches that we value their experience, qualifications and skillsets with great pride. - Demonstrate the seriousness in which we view our coaches’ roles. - Provide those that missed out on coaching positions a clear, objective yardstick for them to measure themselves against. - Celebrate our success in attracting and developing our coaching cohort. - Provide other clubs in the competition the opportunity to actively see how they measure up to our coaches. In short, our coaches have worked very hard over many years, we’ve worked very hard to attract and we are proud to tell you about them. We look for coaches that can demonstrate: - Understanding of, and ability to teach, the Lions way - Demonstrated knowledge of the game and the development of juniors - Proven successful history in their basketball and professional lives - Attraction and retention of athletes – ability to motivate and instil confidence in kids - Proven experience with basketball pathways (state juniors, NITP, ABL, NBL, Collegiate, National) - Formal qualifications in coaching, teaching and management/leadership - Recognised community leadership – positive and professional dealings with umpires, community roles and responsibilities, positive image in the community - Ability to communicate with other coaching staff Whilst we have immense respect for many clubs and their coaches in the competition, when considering these measures we feel our collective coaching lineup is arguably one of the best in South Australia. We have a mix of skillsets and experience that deliver an unparalleled opportunity for athletes to learn the game, develop confidence and progress to the highest level they are capable. Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank coaches retiring from our coaching lineup that coached div 1 teams last year; James Murphy (U16 Div 1 boys coach), Nikki Ireland (U14 Div 1 girls coach), Jo Connelly (U16 Div 1 girls coach). All these coaches will be missed and we hope they will return in the near future. BOYS PROGRAM U10 Boys – Head Coach: Sean Carlin Sean will give our U10s an unparalleled introduction to the game at the district level. Sean is able to bring unique insights he has as a dual Olympian and dual commonwealth games medallist in Hammer Throw. He is renowned throughout athletics circles in Australia for his work ethic and commitment to his sport as an athlete. Since retiring as an athlete he has worked with elite athletes in Hammer throw as Junior Nationals Throw Coach. His involvement in basketball came through his Sons. 1 of his Sons competed for Australia at the U17 World Championships, and was also 5 time state representative, attended the Australian Institute of Sport on Scholarship and is set to begin his 2nd season in the USA playing college basketball. Sean is also a PE teacher at Trinity College, heads up the school’s athlete development subject and leads Trinity College’s junior basketball development program. His mix of insights as an outstanding educator, elite athlete himself, knowledge of Australian Basketball High Performance pathways is something that we are lucky to have in coaching lineup. Sean will provide this absolutely vital age group a great introduction to district basketball. U12 Boys – Head Coach: Rupert Sapwell Rupert and his family will join the Lions from Norwood this year. Rupert’s appointment represents a great opportunity for Trinity College and the Central Districts Lions to continue to work more closely together. Rupert has been Director of Sport at Trinity College for the past few years and has decided to join the Lions and we couldn’t be more excited to have him involved. His basketball playing and coaching background is great but not only that, he has a fantastic understanding of the science behind childhood development in sports and education. From a junior coaching perspective we don’t think we’ve ever had anyone being able to tick as many boxes as Rupert in terms of what we look for in a coach. Rupert played in the NBL for 10 years after graduating from College where had a basketball scholarship at Cal Lutheran University. Whilst in the NBL Rupert played for some of the best coaches in the business, including Brian Goorjian (currently coaching in China), Phil Smyth (currently running Australian College of Basketball) and Ian Stacker (current AIS head coach). At Cal Lutheran he played for Mike Dunlap, who has recently being appointed as head Coach of the Charlotte Bobcats in the NBA, and is one of the most respected coaches in the world. Not only did Rupert learn the game from some of the best coaches going around he also won 3 NBL championships. As a coach he has coached the Norwood Flames at ABL level and took his teams to back to back titles in 2008 and 2009. He has recently turned his expertise to juniors coaching his son’s sides over the past couple of years where he has taken his teams to state championship premierships at U12 and U14 level. We thank Rupert for the commitment he has made to join the Lions and look forward to having he and his family as part of the Lions for years to come. U14 Boys – Head Coach: Toby Lockwood, Toby Lockwood joined the Lions when his former District club, Gawler Gunners and the Lions merged in around 2002. He has played Senior Men with the Lions since that time, all up playing district basketball for an amazing 19 yrs and still going, in recent years the teams he has played in has consistently made finals. He has 5 yrs of coaching experience; initially with U12 Boys, U18 Men and U16 Div 1 boys. This past year Toby has turned our U14 group into the most dominant junior groups in the club’s history. At time of writing his team is top of the ladder in Div 1. They finished 3rd at the state championships this year, to qualify for both the Melbourne Classics and making history for the club by qualifying for the U14 National Club Championships. Toby has phenomenal insights in what kind of skillsets and work ethic U14 players need to develop to succeed and has a proven ability to develop players in this age group. This past 6 months Toby has also begun to get involved in High Performance pathways. He has taken up involvement in the junior development program, based at SASI, which is part of the National Intensive Training Centre Program. In this program he is working with the best kids in the U14 age group in SA and a range of coaches from other clubs. Toby loves the game of basketball, is an avid NBA follower and Lakers fan and he is sure he will have many a debate with his players on the Kobe vs Lebron question. Toby believes that all players must have a strong work ethic on and off the floor, and knowing Toby he embodies that philosophy in his own life. Like our players, the development of our coaches is very important and we are excited to see Toby continuing to develop his coaching resume. U16 Boys Div 1 – Head Coach: Andrew Jantke Andrew Jantke has been involved in high level district basketball for over 25 yrs, he played Div 1 Junior and Senior Basketball, for 14 yrs. As a Div 1 Junior player he played from U10s – U20s in highly successful teams, competing at Melbourne Classics and U14 Nationals, winning State Championships, was coached by coaches recognised as some of the best junior coaches to have coached in SA. Before coming to Centrals he coached U18 Div 1 Men at Norwood for 2 years and was an Assistant Coach with Norwood’s ABL side. Whilst coaching U18 Div 1 Boys and Assistant ABL Coach his teams consistently made finals. At Norwood, he also spent 2 years as Manager of Player/Coach Development at Norwood with 2 Coaching Directors reporting to him. He has coached at 6xNational Championships as an Assistant Coach, including competing in the Semi-Finals 3 times and winning a bronze medal in one of those. He spent 3 yrs working under current Townsville Crocodiles (NBL) Assistant Coach, Liam Flynn as Assistant Coach for the U16 SA Metro boys and 3yrs as an Assistant Coach for the U18 Men’s team. With the State team, he has been primarily responsible for developing individual programs and feedback for the athletes at State level, in consultation with the Coaching staff. Quite a number of these athletes have gone onto Australian Development Camps and squads. He is the current Junior Coaching Director at Centrals. In the 3 yrs he has been Coaching Director the club has experienced unprecedented growth, improvement in coaching ranks and player success through basketball pathways. He has also recently taken on an active role for Basketball SA, working with Salisbury Council to deliver coaching accreditation programs to potential coaches at Parafield Gardens and Ingle Farm Recreation Centres. He is a level 2 Coach, has completed subjects towards Masters of Applied Science in Elite Sport Coaching through the AIS/University of Queensland, and has an MBA and Diploma in IT. U18 Boys –Head Coach: Ricky Simpson The Lions proudly welcome back Ricky to our junior program. Ricky has a fantastic collection of basketball experiences that we look for in our coaches.