Geelong United Basketball is pleased to announce our 1st team coaches for the 2023/24 Victorian Junior Basketball League season.
Further appointments will be confirmed following player trials, which will commence this weekend.
Trial coordinators will be revealed on Wednesday.
UNDER 18 GIRLS
BRENDON MATTHEWS
One of the most experienced underage coaches in the region, Brendon Matthews will take charge of the under-18 girls after an impressive 2022-23 with Geelong United’s under-16 girls. Runner-up at Country Championships to Ballarat, Matthews also guided the 16s to a creditable eighth-placed finish at the National Junior Classic. He will play a key role in developing our under-18 talent for Big V and NBL1 action in the future.
UNDER 18 BOYS
AINSLIE HOWARD
Ainslie Howard returns to a Geelong United coaching role, having previously led the Youth League men and women in recent years. Howard is the current Basketball Victoria Future Development Program head coach for the South West Hub. She also served as director of coaching at the Corio Bay Stingrays across 2018-19. Involvement in GUB’s Youth League Men’s program is also part of Howard’s position, where she will play a role in helping to develop the next generation of young male talent as they prepare for Big V and NBL1 selection in the future.
UNDER 16 GIRLS
ABBY LOUGHHEAD
After taking the under-12 (2) girls to a preliminary final last season, Abby Loughhead will take charge of the under-16 (1) girls. Identified as one of Basketball Victoriaβs talented up-and-coming female coaches and invited to take part in Basketball Victoriaβs inaugural Country Metro Challenge, Loughhead was also a part of Basketball Victoria’s State Development Program as a Network Coach here in Geelong. Loughhead also spent the second half of the 2023 season as part of Geelong United’s NBL1 women’s program, which progressed to a preliminary final. Loughhead’s lengthy basketball resume also includes time as a head coach at the Big V level.
UNDER 16 BOYS
LEON O’NEILL
The under-16 boys will benefit from the vast basketball knowledge and experience of Leon O’Neill. A former Geelong Supercats player and head coach, O’Neill made 15 NBL appearances for the Gold Coast Rollers during the 1990s before spending time in the US College system.
VJBL: HIGHER HONOURS FOR GUB JUNIORS
UNDER 14 GIRLS
BRANT LOWRY
After leading the under-12 (1) girls to the VJL1 preliminary final following a fifth-place finish after the regular season, Brant Lowry will make the move with a lot of those athletes to the under-14s. Lowry has 20 years of coaching experience, including at Werribee, where he took an under-14 girls team to the National Club Championships.
UNDER 14 BOYS
CHAD SUPHAMONGKOL
Chad Suphamongkol will take charge of an under-14 team for the first time, having spent the past six seasons across under-16 and under-18 age groups with Geelong United and Corio Bay. Suphamongkol guided the under-16 (2) boys to the VJL1 to the premiership last season.
UNDER 12 GIRLS
STEPH WHATLEY
Steph Whatley, the youngest of our first-team coaches, joins Geelong United from Wyndham, where she had charge of the Devils under-16 girls’ first team. In 2023, Whatley was one of four exciting and talented young female coaches identified by Basketball Victoriaβs High-Performance program to take part in a female coach development initiative that took place during Basketball Victoriaβs Country Metro Challenge. Whatley was most recently named as a development coach of the Vic Country under-18 girls’ team for next year’s National Championships.
UNDER 12 BOYS
DEMARCUS GATLIN
The current captain of the Geelong United NBL1 men’s team, DeMarcus Gatlin oversaw the fortunes of the under-14 (2) boys during the 2022-23 season. From Houston, Gatlin attended Division 1 US College Sam Houston before joining Geelong’s SEABL program in 2016. Last week, he was named United’s men’s MVP for 2023.
