New coach hopes to re-ignite Spirit

THE Bendigo Spirit have announced their new head coach, just over a month after SEN took ownership of the WNBL side.

Veteran coach Kennedy Kereama will take the reigns for the next season, with experience in the lead role at the New Zealand Tall Ferns, the West Coast Waves now Perth Lynx, and most recently as assistant coach of the Canberra Capitals.

“I’m really appreciative of the opportunity to work with the new SEN ownership group based here in Bendigo in the Red Energy Arena,” he said.

“What attracted me to the role was to come in and work with some outstanding athletes.”

Kereama said while the Spirit haven’t played finals for six seasons, the attitude and ambitions of the squad is high.

“Tracey [York] had this team playing exceptionally competitively,” he said. “They were tough, they were effectively the giant killers of the league.

“They got some really big scalps and they were a really tough proposition any time.”

He said his first year in the role will be about putting the club in a position of consistent competitiveness.

“We want to compete for championships, we want to be consistent championship contenders every year and that’s certainly going to be a big part of my role,” he said.

“For me the foundation of that is making sure the athletes we have in place here are given every resource they need to perform at their best consistently.”

The new coach inherits a team led by captain Tess Lavey, Opal Leilani Mitchell, and reigning league MVP Anneli Maley.

Currently in the off-season, Kereama expects to get the squad together in October after the FIBA Women’s World Cup.