ONE-FOR-ONE in major tournaments is a nice way to kick off your international coaching resume, which is exactly what Berwick’s Paul Flynn has achieved in Churchill this past week.
Flynn, a former 200-game player for the Nunawading Spectres, can usually be found with the Dandenong Rangers SEABL D-League women’s team or their VJBL under-18s women, but this week he took the reins of the Basketball Australia under-17 women who defeated New Zealand 66-49 to take out the FIBA Oceania Pacific Youth Championship.
Australia blitzed the opposition through the preliminary rounds, routinely winning by 70 or more points
“Getting the win over New Zealand at any time is great, but to get a win in a tournament like that, we’ll definitely take it,” Flynn said.
“Any win like that, the first emotion you experience is relief that you’ve achieved your goal – we did what we set out to do. Then it was excitement for the girls – their first taste of international basketball, first time to pull on an Australian singlet in competition and their first step towards hopefully qualifying for a world championship.”
Unfortunately, Flynn won’t carry on as the team’s coach for the next step in the journey towards the 2014 World Championships, but was grateful to Basketball Australia for his first taste of international coaching.
“It’s a very good start for me and still early days,” Flynn said.
“I was fortunate enough to get the experience now and hopefully get another opportunity down the track.”
Flynn’s next challenge will be to prepare his roster for an assault at a three-peat in the Victorian Youth Championship, formerly the Basketball Victoria D League which merged with the Big V’s State Youth Championship.
In other Dandenong Basketball news, David Graham has been announced as Graeme Allen’s successor as the new Dandenong Basketball CEO. Graham played in the National Basketball League for the North Melbourne Giants and Geelong Supercats and represented Australia at both junior and senior levels, including the 1990 World Championships in Argentina.
Also, Dandenong SEABL women’s coach Larissa Anderson gave birth last week to a future basketball star – a boy named Cooper.
