Basketball Ballarat Appoints Cunningham to New Role
Basketball Ballarat today announced that former Harvey Norman Rush Head Coach Peter Cunningham has accepted a newly established position of Junior Development Officer and will take up his duties this week.
The Junior Development Officer role has been created to support the work of Nathan Cooper-Brown as Manager – Athlete & Coach Development and to help oversee the development and execution of coaching and elite player development in the Ballarat local and representations programs and the Greater Western Region.
Cunningham, will be working under the direction of the Manager – Athlete and Coach Development to plan the coordination of Basketball Ballarat junior athlete and coach development, specifically at the U/12 and U/14 age groups and to support the provision of local coach and elite program services.
“It was always my intention to continue to work in the Ballarat program and I am delighted to be working with Nathan and to be back working with Basketball Ballarat at the junior level with a focus on coach and player education across both the club and rep team level” Cunningham said.
“We have some exceptional juniors coming through our Representative and club programs and it is exciting to help develop a culture and pathway through to our Elite Miners and Rush teams. With the proposed new court developments it is an exciting time for basketball in Ballarat and I feel that both the local and regional players will see our program as the place to be and want to be involved in what we have to offer as a Basketball community and Elite pathway”.
Basketball Ballarat CEO Peter Eddy thanked Cunningham for his commitment to remaining in our program after such a demanding role as the Rush Head coach for the past two years. “Peter has a genuine interest in junior player and coach education as it is a real boost to us that his knowledge and expertise will still be available to our players and coaches”, Eddy said.
Eddy added that “Cunningham will also maintain a voluntary role on the Rush Elite Teams Committee and the Junior Elite Teams Committee which will help bond these groups together for future planning and development. He will also have a close relationship with the Basketball Victoria Country U/14 Regional Academy program to ensure close cohesion between the state and local programs.”
As a former SEABL coach, State Coach and State Program Manager Cunningham is well credentialed to take on this new development role for Ballarat.
The priorities of the new Junior Development Officer role will be:
- To develop and maintain an encouraging and learning environment for the ongoing coach education of the elite program and of our local Association competitions.
- To help establish and maintain a strong culture of excellence and discipline for all Ballarat programs. Teach U/12 and U/14 coaches at all levels of their responsibility as a role model and educator.
- To attend Saturday competition sessions on a rotating times basis and monitor local U12 & U14 club level coaches and players and nominate both players and coaches to be involved in Holiday Talent Camps for non rep level athletes and coaches.
- To assist the Manager Athlete & Coach Development with the introduction and implementation of the pilot of Club Director of Coaching roles and to support allocated clubs with establishing such a role.