GOLD COAST (Australia) - The Women in Basketball strategy of FIBA kickstarted basketball activities in Australia with a World Association of Basketball Coaches Clinic (WABC) held in the Gold Coast.

In partnership with FIBA, Basketball Australia, and Gold Coast Basketball, the event initially had over 50 participants registering for the coaching clinic, unfortunately, because of restrictions not everyone was able to attend but it was still able to welcome 36 female coaches.

"We are pleased with the turnout because despite the lockdown in Brisbane and surrounding areas we were still able to get a good number of participants for the clinic," shared FIBA in Oceania Development Manager, Annie La Fleur.

Led by WABC President Patrick Hunt, the clinic featured esteemed coaches, Sandy Brondello, Jackie Brown, and Jan Stirling discussing developing perimeter players, drills for running the game, and teaching post-play respectively.

Brondello is the head coach of the Australia National Women's team while Brown was the 2019 Basketball Queensland Coach of the Year and Stirling is the General Manager of High Performance for Basketball Australia and a FIBA Hall of Fame member.

Brondello commended the program and shared that she is proud to be part of the clinic that promotes and helps develop female basketball coaches.

"I love being a part of a community where women are supporting women to develop and grow as coaches. Much respect to Basketball Australia and FIBA for investment in promoting female-only coaching clinics," she stated.

The clinic also featured players from the Gold Coast Under 18 Girls team which provided practical presentations and situations for the coaches to learn.

"We are lucky to have the U18 Gold Coast girls team participate in the clinic, they are a talented team and to be exposed to the knowledge of the coaches involved will certainly help them in their basketball skill," stated La Fleur.

The WABC clinic was recorded and will be uploaded on the FIBA WABC YouTube channel for free, to provide more online learning for aspiring coaches around the world.

In the closing remarks of Hunt, the Australian hoped that the participants will mentor at least one female coach this year to grow the pool of female coaches which is in line with the Women in Basketball strategy of FIBA.

 FIBA