Geelong Advertiser – By Damien Ractliffe
Bellarine Storm will take on a new frontier this summer with the introduction of senior men’s and women’s teams.
Geelong Supercats assistant coach Luke Beauglehall has been appointed the Storm’s inaugural men’s senior coach ahead of the club’s debut season in the Country Basketball League.
Meanwhile, the storm’s women will be coached by Supercats’ Youth League coach Tim Sanderson.
The move will give the Geelong-Bellarine area its only senior representative summer basketball teams, a contrast to the Supercats’ SEABL and Corio Bay’s Big V programs which run in Winter.
Storm operations manager Aaron Lothian said he hoped to attract one or two Supercats or Stingrays players for the inaugural season, especially those that have come through Storm’s junior program.
“Currently we have 20 junior teams but no senior teams, so this will be the first time,” Lothian said.
“We’ve put our team entries in and have secured coaches – now we’re currently on the hunt for players. We’re trying to get as much as we can locally; we’ll use it as a bit of a development pathway from our junior program, so we want to have at least 50 per cent come through our juniors.
The club will play in the south west division against clubs such as Colac Kookas, Portland Coasters and Mt Gambier Lakers, and the season starts in mid October.
“There’s’ no real representative basketball in Geelong over summer, this is really the only summer competition from a senior point of view,” Lothian said. “I think it’s a really good fit for us, a bit of a stepping stone, but I think it’s also good to provide (opportunities) over summer.”