Horvat a Supercat again

GEELONG United head coach Matt Paton and his vision for 2023 is starting to come together, with former Supercat and 2018 SEABL champion Chantel Horvat signing on.

Horvat, who trained with WNBA club Los Angeles Sparks in 2022, returned home to Geelong a fortnight ago after a stint in Poland’s national league as a part of Gorzow, her first professional signing out of college at UCLA.

“It’s going to be a special year being back in this home gym [at] Geelong Arena,” Horvat said.

“I’m super-excited to get with the team, and it’s just going to be so fun playing in front of my family and friends and everyone here in Geelong.”

Horvat’s signing comes two weeks after Geelong announced the signing of Polish national player Agnieszka Skobel, injecting two new faces to the Supercats’ depth chart.

Before her double header weekend against Mount Gambier and Diamond Valley over a week ago, Horvat was present during Geelong’s defeat to Frankston, only increasing her motivation to join the team.

“What you always get from a loss is points to learn from,” she said.

“We have a lot to learn from, but we also have a lot of things that we can keep building. The things that we do well, and we can continue to build with our full squad.

“I’m super excited to get out there, and I think that things will start to come together when we have our full team.”

Playing for Gorzow, Horvat averaged 12.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per game from 28 appearances, including two matchups against new Supercats teammate in Skobel, who represented Poznan.

“It was incredible,” Horvat said. “I didn’t know a ton about the league but got over there and got to work, and I ended up loving it.

“I had an amazing team, great teammates, and a really good opportunity that our team was a EuroCup team. So, I got to travel and play in Europe and Poland.

“It was a really good starting point for my professional career.”

Paton was rapt to bring Horvat into his rotation citing her as a long, versatile athlete.

“She’s very aggressive on the glass; she can add to our ability to create second and third shot opportunities,” he said.

“She’s also a difficult matchup, in that she’s quite tall, can stretch the floor, and shoot the perimetre shot, but she also has a good first step and is a slasher that can get to the rim.”