Deaf Basketball Australia and Goanna’s coach Brent Reid Sports Star nominee
A dedicated coach has transformed the National Deaf Basketball program and led athletes to unprecedented international success.
Outer East
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Nominee: Brent Reid
Suburb: Kilsyth
Age: 42
Club: Goannas (Deaf Basketball Australia)
Sport: Basketball
How long has the nominee been serving at your club? Five years
How does the nominee provide outstanding service to your club/team?
Brent has completely transformed the National Deaf Basketball program since coming on board in 2014. He has lead us to unprecedented international success. In 2015 the Goannas won the Asia Pacific Deaf Games. We were the most improved deaf basketball team in the world that year, jumping eight ranking spots to be number 5. We were also the first team to win a gold medal in any deaf team sports for Australia.
Tell us about a moment or incident that shows your nominee’s dedication to sport:
Prior to 2014 the Australian Men’s Deaf basketball team was player funded. Since coming on board Brent has managed to help us cover almost half our costs for international tournaments and training camps through fundraising. For someone who had never met a deaf person prior to being introduced to the team, to come along and sacrifice the time, money and effort that he has, just to make us better basketball players is incredible.
What makes the nominee so special to your club/team?
While Brent has excellent coaching abilities and has provided us with some fantastic fundraising opportunities, what makes him so special to the team is how much he genuinely cares about the players and other staff members and how much he wants to help us improve off the court as much as on it. He’s a fantastic coach but an even better role model.
Describe the nominee’s passion for the sport:
Brent has an incredibly fiery personality on the court because he believes in the players and wants the absolute best for them individually and for the team. By rebooting the national program Brent has allowed us to experience international success and showcase the best of ourselves. He is not only passionate about basketball but he is passionate about giving deaf players the same opportunities as hearing players.
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Give us three words that sums up the nominee:
Dedicated, genuine, leader.
Do you have anything else you’d like to add?
Brent is one of the best role models we’ve ever had and we would not have achieved what we have without him. He doesn’t look at us as deaf people who play basketball, he sees us as basketball players who happen to be deaf and he coaches us that way. He taught us that if we work together as a team we can achieve so much more than any of us can on our own.
Know someone with great sporting talent? Nominate them here.
Thanks to our partner Gold 104.3
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