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Fave daughter back at Boomers
TweetCHERYL Chambers took it on the chin after coaching Bulleen into a WNBL Grand Final, only to lose her job to Australia's top women's basketball coach Tom Maher.
A star player in her own right, Chambers was in charge of the Boomers from 2002-2009, twice winning the Coach of the Year accolade and readily identified as one of the game's brightest new coaching talents.
Bulleen was on a hiding-to-nothing though when Maher became available.
This is the man who first took the Opals' reins in 1994 and under all the pressure in the world with the World Championship being staged in Australia.
Quite the pressure-cooker debut because an Opals demise meant the tournament would be a disaster. Yet he didn't bat an eyelid, taking the Opals through to the Bronze Medal game, then to a Bronze Medal at the 1996 Olympics, another at the 1998 World Championship and finally Silver at Sydney 2000's memorable Games.
Four years later, Maher led fledgling New Zealand into the Athens Olympics' quarter-finals for the Tall Ferns' greatest finish, then steered China from its 8th ranking to the semi finals at the Beijing Olympics.
He had the helm of host nation Great Britain at the London Olympics - his standing on the international stage as one of the great coaches leaving Bulleen with a tough call to make.
The Boomers made it and won a championship within two years - though some might argue that may have happened anyway with Chambers still in the role.
But once again, the world has come calling for Maher and he is back as head coach of China for the Rio Olympics, which will mark his sixth consecutive Olympic Games.
"It was a wonderful opportunity for Tom, (wife) Robyn and (regular assistant) Timmsy (Michele Timms) in China,'' Bulleen president Derek Pangbourne said.
It also opened the door for Guy Molloy to return to the WNBL - it was in 1989 he made his debut with Canberra Capitals - as Bulleen's new head coach, and today the door flung open wider, with Chambers' return also warmly embraced and endorsed.
The Gems coach joins Molloy as his primary assistant as Bulleen looks to rebuild in the wake of the loss of Alice Kunek to Dandenong and a raft of retirements.
Molloy, who previously also followed Maher at West Coast (then still unimaginatively called "Perth'') from 1993-96 and was WNBL Coach of the Year in 1995, has also been an Opals assistant, led the Australian Under-17 men's team to the past two World Championships - winning a Silver Medal last year in Lithuania - and coached NBL at Cairns Taipans and South Dragons.
He was last coaching at the SEABL's Ballarat Miners program, Chambers jumping aboard the Boomers express from Knox Raiders where she also is guiding the SEABL program.
Chambers too is coaching internationally at present as mentor of the Gems (Under-19) national program.
As a player, the point guard logged 261 WNBL games with Nunawading, Coburg, Bulleen and Melbourne but her coaching stint makes her one of the few with more than 400 games under her belt.
Apart from Chambers' long-awaited return - her kids play at Bulleen - the club is moving away from its Veneto Club home and looking at one of three options.
MSAC, the State Netball and Hockey Centre and the State Basketball Centre (Knox) all are under consideration as the Boomers endeavor to embrace the club's history while also looking to broaden its appeal.
Double-header games with the Tigers' NBL team are on the drawing board too, emulating the 36ers-Lightning situation in Adelaide.
Molloy said Matt Paps and Ben Draper would return as Bulleen assistants, continuing Maher's legacy in mentoring talented young coaches.
Another former star player, Gaylene McKay, has been retained as Boomers physiotherapist, marking the championship-winner's 21st consecutive year with the club after logging 338 WNBL games.
This is how the story broke today at adelaidenow.com.au
