2023 Men’s MVP Caleb Fetui-Fa’amoe and head coach Jarrod Moore. Photos by Noel Rowsell.
THE Penrith Basketball Association has announced its senior representative coaches for 2024, with Jarrod Moore to continue in the head coach role with the NBL1 East Men, and Neil Offner to take up the role of head coach for the NBL1 East Women.
“Jarrod is a long-term member of our Penrith Community and we are excited to he is back for the upcoming season,” said P&DBA General Manager Leonie Moore.
“Neil has been a long-time member of our Penrith community, coaching in both our Junior and Senior programs.”
“I’m very excited to have been given the opportunity to head coach our Women’s NBL1 2024 team,” Neil said. I look forward to working with my assistant Enrique to form a team and help build and grow from our 2023 start in this competition.”
“(Our) Record aside, we thoroughly enjoyed the challenge (in our first season),” said Jarrod. “Plenty of lessons were learnt and we cannot wait to do it all again for NBL1 (East) 2024. Our most enjoyable highlight (this year) was the one-point win against Albury, in Albury. That will last in the memories for a while.
“A lot of different players stepped up throughout the season. Our MVP for the year, Caleb Fetui Fa’amoe, really stepped up, playing against men this year, after just coming out of Youth League.
“We cannot wait to see everyone’s progress going into next year. Our veterans will be our likely leaders, with some exciting youth players coming through the Penrith Youth system.
“Our training / game strategy will be altered, given the experience gained from this year. Towards the end of last season, we felt we were getting fitter, which plays a big piece towards everything else. Once we lock in the team, have a focused pre-season, with a later start date (early April), we feel we will have more than enough time to be prepared for another season.
“Close to everyone (from this year’s squad) has mentioned they will be trialling once again, and I look forward to seeing them at trials. The only one not coming back unfortunately is Kaylis Beaumont-Tafua. Kaylis is a Brisbane native and has decided to develop his talents close to home. We wish him the best of luck.”
Trials for both the NBL1 Men’s and Women’s teams will be held on the 28th and 29th October, with selected players then invited to attend a further trial on 5th November.
The junior representative coaches from U12 to U18 have also been named during the week.
NBL1 East Men – Jarrod Moore; NBL1 East Women – Neil Offner; U12(1) Boys – Fidoh Natividad; U12(2) Boys – Tony Saab; U14(1) Boys – James-Dean McDonald; U14(2) Boys – Greg Bolin; U16(1) Boys – Kurt Watts; U16(2) Boys – Lewis Looyscheider; U18(1) Boys – Blake Macfarlane; U18(2) Boys – Daniel Chhuy.
U12(1) Girls – Leonie Moore; U12(2) Girls – Aalayah Chhuy; U14(1) Girls – Bryan Campbell; U14(2) Girls – Jess Bloom; U16(1) Girls – Jenna Weekes; U16(2) Girls – Greg Blaxland; U18(1) Girls – Jeff Cooper; U18(2) Girls – Rebecca Palmer.
