Petty announced as new United coach

GEELONG United’s new women’s head coach Jamie Petty says opportunities to coach in the NBL1 South do not come around often, which is why he made the move from Queensland down to Geelong inside a week when the club reached out.

United announced the former Northside Wizards men’s head coach as its new women’s head coach for a three-year term on Tuesday evening, and he is excited to hit the ground running.

“I was in a minivan driving my furniture down from Brisbane to Geelong in what was honestly an unbelievable quick turn of events,” Petty said.

“But when opportunities arise like this it’s impossible to turn down, Geelong is an impressive organisation with a great history and to be able to come to an association like this and play a key role, it was really attractive.

“They, or I should say we, probably have the best game night in Australia, I’ve been to places that have great game nights like Townsville, Mount Gambier and Rockhampton, and the way to community gets behind this side is really impressive.”

Petty admitted while he and the team will be starting “behind the eight ball” with the season right around the corner, he assures Geelong United fans they will see a tough, defensively strong, hard-nosed team.

The women’s list has also made gains and losses in recent weeks, with the resigning of Nyidier Riak and the signing of Norwood Flames conference champion (NBL1 Central) Jada Rice.

However, four of United’s pivotal cogs from last season in Chantel Horvat, Ella Tofaeono, Monica Okoye, and Agnieszka Skobel will not return to The Geelong Arena in 2024 Petty confirmed.

“The plan moving forward is to build a program that no matter who we have on the floor every night, no matter who we’re playing against, we’re competing to a high level and we’re in games and competitive and we play for each other.

“If you have a team that embodies that mindset, that team can overachieve and potentially the whole can outperform the sum of its parts.”

As it stands, Geelong United’s Women’s roster consists of Eve Braslis, Sarah Elsworthy, Jessica Scannell, Kobe Tehau King-Hawea, Nyidier Riak, and Jada Rice.