2021 NBL1 North Championship Coach Brayden Heslehurst has put pen to paper and re-signed as head coach of the Bendigo Bank Logan Thunder women for the next 2 seasons.
Brayden will lead our NBL1 North Champion Thunder women for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Brayden also returns as Logan Basketball Incorporated Basketball Development Manager and will oversee all Basketball development our association.
Over the past 2 years as head coach of the senior women’s program, Brayden has lead the Bendigo Bank Logan Thunder Women to an impressive 30 win and 1 loss record in the NBL1 North and Queensland State League respectively.
Brayden has also been actively coaching at the junior level and is invested in the Logan Thunder pathway from U12’s through to NBL1. Brayden returning as Basketball Development Manger provides an added resource for a growing membership which this summer has our largest registered playing membership to date. Through Brayden’s management of the Logan Thunder pathway, Logan Basketball will look to continue program success and develop future Logan Thunder NBL1 North players and coaches.
Brayden is thrilled to be returning as head coach of the Bendigo Bank Logan Thunder Women.
“ Coming to Logan and joining the Thunder Family was the best decision I’ve ever made in my time in basketball. The club has a culture and environment you just can’t get or experience anywhere else and everyone has made me feel a part of that since I walked in the door so I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else and am very excited to be back for another two seasons. Representing the members, volunteers and families who have made the Thunder Family what it is, is what makes winning championships like what we’ve done the past two years so special.”
“But on top of that, we have been able to build an incredible program and team filled with an incredible core lead by club legends such as Mikhaela Cann and Ashley Taia and recruiting others who add to that culture and environment such as Mikaela Ruef and Chevannah Paalvast but doing it the right way and bringing through and developing our juniors so we can ensure the program is successful for years to come. This group is so special and after achieving something like we did this year in the NBL1 I can’t wait to build on that and bring another championship banner to Bendigo Bank Stadium.”
Since winning the inaugural NBL1 North Championship, Brayden has also returned to working with Logan Basketball junior players and coaches:
“I’m also excited to be working with our Thunder Family juniors once again. We’ve made some big steps forward in the past few years, not only through developing our athletes and putting things in place to ensure we’ve established a great pathway but also through developing our volunteer coaches and rewarding them for all the work they put in as well. It’s exciting times for the Thunder junior program in the years to come!”
Logan Basketball General Manager Mitch Young said Brayden is the right person to continue to lead the Bendigo Bank Logan Thunder Women.
“Brayden’s relationship with our key players who make up our core group of Thunder women has proven to produce success. Two championships in as many seasons and a passion and investment in the Thunder Family, Brayden is the right person to continue to lead our senior women’s program.”
“Brayden has continued to grow and develop as a young coach and is committed to our program vision of maintaining a roster featuring a majority of former Logan Thunder Juniors. We have talented Logan Thunder Juniors who are currently playing college basketball in the USA including Ula Motuga (Washington State), Jade Kirisome (St.Mary’s), Meila Goodchild (Duke), Hazel Fui (Chadron State) and Neferatali Notoa (Oklahoma State). We have a plan for sustained success as we look to return our former juniors from college – into our Bendigo Bank Logan Thunder Senior Women’s team.”
“Brayden returning in the role of Basketball development manager will give our team of staff another member to focus solely on our basketball pathway. As someone who has coached at all levels from junior rep through to NBL1, Brayden is a valuable resource for developing junior players and coaches. Our domestic clubs now all have quality directors of coaching who will work closely with Brayden developing our Basketball product from the junior club environment through to the Logan Thunder program. We are very excited about our current stable of junior players and coaches and look forward to more success with Brayden leading on court development.”
