Geelong United is set to announce its new coach for its debut WNBL season

Geelong United is set to announce its new senior mentor for its debut WNBL season as the organisation’s chief executive outlines what’s next for the budding franchise.

Geelong United Basketball Association chief executive Mark Neeld is expected to announce its first WNBL coach soon. Picture: Mark Wilson

Elite level basketball will return to Geelong, permanently, for the first time in nearly 30 years this November.

While Geelong has hosted WNBL games in the past, it has not had an elite hoops team of its own since the Supercats exited the big league in 1996 to join the then SEABL.

However, everything changed last week when Geelong United Basketball Association acquired a WNBL licence for the coming 2024-25 season after it was relinquished by the Melbourne Boomers.

It will be Geelong’s first WNBL team since an equivalent local outfit played for a single season in 1986.

And it was an announcement met with excitement, anticipation but also a raft of questions, including: what comes next?

Appointing a senior coach is at the top of the list, with an announcement imminent.

In an exclusive interview with this publication, Geelong United Basketball Association chief executive Mark Neeld said the association was currently in discussions, with a big reveal looming next week.

Geelong United announced last week it had acquired an WNBL licence, with Jasmine King, Jolissa Carriedo, Megan Moody, Geelong mayor Trent Sullivan, Connie Bolger, Kensi King, Vicki King and Poppy Stevens welcoming the news.

“In a perfect world, it will be in the next few days,” Neeld said on Friday.

“We’re right at the pointy end, we hope to announce by mid next week.

“Our first port of call is to select and contract a coach, and then that coach will work with Megan Moody, who is our manager of pathways, they will be the two people with their hands all over the roster.

“We need to do that first. We’ll have a look at our current NBL1 squad (for potential players)

“If you start speaking to players, one of the first things they’ll ask is: who’s the coach?

“We won’t speak to anybody in contract, but if coaches are off contract it’s fair game.”

While GUB cannot speak to any out-of-contract players until the free agency period begins on June 10, it is able to contact former Boomers players.

United has a WNBL player on its NBL1 South roster in Shaneice Swain, who joined the Sydney Flames in 23-24.

From an economic perspective, the new team is estimated to bring millions into the Geelong economy each year as it hosts 10 games a season at the ageing Geelong Arena.

At this stage, United will play its first three WNBL seasons at the arena before moving to the planned new stadium in Waurn Ponds, which is due to be open by November, 2026.

The ageing arena’s capacity is around 2000 with the facility’s current condition deemed as “poor” in a City of Greater Geelong report.

United has also applied to the local council to manage the facility in the future.

However, Neeld said any arena enhancements ahead of the November season opener would be a question for the council.

For now, GUB is busy building a workforce to support its new roster, including coaches, both senior and assistant, team management, game day staff, physiotherapy, strength and conditioning and medical specialists – the club has already advertised for marketing and administration positions – with costs to rise significantly from its current NBL1 South operations.

“Getting two NBL1 teams on the court compared to a WNBL team, the cost is a 10 fold increase,” Neeld said.

“The athletes will be contracted for seven months, so for seven months of the year they’re full time.”

While GUB is unlikely to announce any sponsors in coming weeks, Neeld said there had been “overwhelming” interest, both from local business and families, eager to be part of a new era in Geelong basketball history.

“We’ve been very pleasantly contacted by a number of organisations around Geelong in regards to inquiring how they can get involved,” he said.

Geelong United Basketball Association boss Mark Neeld. Picture: David Smith.

“It will take the entire Geelong community to support and get behind this initiative.

“We will be reaching out to the community in different ways in the upcoming months.

“Geelong United is about uniting the sport of basketball.

“In terms of being able to take Geelong as a city and Geelong through female sport to the world, this is the vehicle”

When asked if GUB had considered a different name than United, Neeld said the association was open to adding a mascot to the Geelong moniker down the track.

However, if that was to occur, the community would be engaged for ideas.

Meanwhile, the new team will stick with the same uniforms currently used: “Everything we can control will be the same.”

Geelong United player Shaneice Swain. Picture: NBL

Neeld said the new team’s genesis could be linked back to a local basketball presidents’ roundtable meeting about five years ago, which focused on what it wanted to increase — female participation was identified as a major priority.

“Pre-covid it was 32 per cent of our players were female, post-covid it’s 28 so it’s dropped,” he said.

“One (priority) was to get into a position to have a team in the WNBL.

“It’s been significantly on the radar since then.”

On the association’s website, United’s vision with the new licence is to ultimately increase female participation in sport, basketball or otherwise, while being the nation’s leading regional hub for elite female sports,

Neeld said research showed participation could be significantly boosted when youngsters could see a local pathway to the elite level.

With around 10,000 players currently affiliated with GUB, and a doubling of female players within the Bellarine region over the past two years to just on 1000, that pool of local youngsters is set to grow.

The final word goes to Geelong United board member Jess Chappell, who said Geelong entering the national competition was “extraordinarily exciting”.

“It’s fair to say there’s never been a better time to get behind women’s basketball," Chappell said.

“It feels like there’s a national conversation about women's participation in community and anything that elevates and celebrates women is something that we are incredibly proud to champion.”

Originally published as Geelong United is set to announce its new coach for its debut WNBL season