Spectres U12 Girls to be Nurtured by Experienced Coaches in 2021

Spectres under 12 girls to be nurtured by experienced coaches in 2021

Nunawading’s youngest talents are set to be nurtured by a line-up of experienced and knowledgeable Spectres coaches in 2021 to help underpin the junior program’s future success.

After successfully guiding the Under 14 Girls program for a number of years, Peter Rooke was recently announced as Under 12 Girls head coach for next year’s Victorian Junior Basketball League campaign. Rooke’s coaching resume is impressive too. Having led multiple Spectres teams to the Under 14 Australian Club Championships, he is making a return to an age group in which he has arguably been most successful. His list of achievements at under 12 level includes two Victorian Championship titles and a swag of National Junior Classic medals. With 25 years of coaching experience at the younger age groups, Rooke is well positioned to oversee the development of the talented young girls that will help underpin the long-term success of the Spectres girls program.

“I just think under 12 is probably the most important age group in any program,” explained Rooke in explaining his move across to under 12 girls for next season. “The kids are just like sponges, and you need to feed them as much as you can and keep everything skills based. That’s where the program starts, and that’s where I want to be to help make a difference.

“It’s my favourite year, favourite age group to coach. I’m really looking forward to helping develop the promising talent we have here at Nunawading.”

Joining Rooke in the under 12 girls program are a host of experienced coaches. Long-time Spectres coaches Di and Mark Stainkamph are all returning in a coaching capacity next year, while Garry Christie and Damian Arsenis will also be back following the success of the girl’s development program. As young female role models for the girls to look up to, Elle Goss and Casey Giles will also be back, the latter narrowly missing out on guiding the 12.2 girls into VC in her first season as a VJBL coach in 2020.

Rooke spoke glowingly of the coaches assembled for next season.

“You try and surround yourself with talented coaches, because it [under 12] is the most important year in the program,” Rooke said. “You want to have extremely talented coaches in your program, and the group of coaches we have here at Nunawading are quite amazing.

“With Di and Garry [Christie], Mark [Stainkamph] and Damian [Arsenis] around, they are all experienced coaches, and importantly, great at teaching and developing the skills of players at this age group.

“Then you have Casey [Giles] and and Elle [Goss] who have both played at elite junior level. Casey had come through the junior Spectres program herself into the Big V Youth League team, while Elle has played at Bulleen as a junior, including at Big V and WNBL level. They are ideal role models that the girls can all look up to, and something that is very important to provide the girls with. They are probably very similar in what they can bring to the kids — their enthusiasm, likeability and rapport with the kids, it is just something special.”

In what has proven to be a difficult year for the children in not being able to play basketball since early March, Director of Coaching Tamie Harvey explained that the coaches at Nunawading all shared a passion for not only coaching, but for ensuring the health and wellbeing of their teams and players.

“It’s the one thing we’ve found through this [pandemic] is that our culture is very family like, everyone really pulls together,” shared Harvey. “Despite last season being cancelled, our coaches continue to work their teams online. Our under 12 girls coaching group are fantastic in being able to teach the kids the fundamental skills in order to be successful, but also doing it in a way that keeps it fun. The girls that make a Spectres team in 2021 are going to be in great hands.”

With domestic basketball throughout most of 2020, Nunawading launched Future Spectres, a six program to help reconnect children to basketball and provide an opportunity to be prepared for 2021 Spectres tryouts when they are finally able to be scheduled.

The Future Spectres program runs every Sunday, tipping-off at 11:00am. Registrations will continue to be accepted, so be sure you register to secure a place for your child and receive a Zoom video link via email along with further instructions.

Register for Future Spectres

Email Melissa Chesterfield via jspadmin@nunawadingbasketball.com.au with the following detail;

• Player Name:
• Player DOB:
• Player Domestic Club:
• Parent/Guardian Name:
• Phone No:
• ईमेल:

Expressions of Interest for 2021 Junior Spectres Tryouts

You can now also register your expression of for 2021 Spectres junior tryouts. Please complete the expression of interest form for each child यहाँ.

At this stage, completing the expression of interest does not constitute a commitment or actual registration. This is merely to assist us in planning for the 2021 season.

Tryout pre-registration, including the Spectres Player and Parent Handbook will be made available once the required information is provided by the VJBL.