GB age-group head coaches appointed
The head coaches for Great Britain’s 2020 European Championship campaigns have been appointed.
After a thorough selection process jointly managed by the home country’s of England, Scotland and Wales, head coaches have been picked for the six male and female age-group teams at under-16, under-18 and under-20 from a range of high-quality candidates.
The appointments are as follows:
- U16 Girls – Jennifer Leedham
- U18 Women – Kenrick Liburd
- U20 Women – Len Busch
- U16 Boys – Troy Culley
- U18 Men – Craig Nicol
- U20 Men – Alan Keane
The head coaches will now form part of the selection panel to appoint assistant coaches and team managers in early January.
Chair of the GB Youth Teams Performance Group Charlie Ford said: “Congratulations to those selected.
“We were blessed with a fantastic range of candidates to chose from and we are confident we have some talented coaches to move our programmes forward, including some involved for the first time.
“We would also like to put on record our appreciation for those coaches who have done a great job for GB in the past but were not selected this time.”
Meet the coaches
JENNIFER LEEDHAM: The Associate Head Coach at St Francis College in Brooklyn, New York (NCAA Division 1) played for England Under-18s, Great Britain Under-20s and was on the 2009 World University Games Squad. She is the elder sister of GB star Jo Leedham.
She said: “I am honored to be selected. I believe I have a major opportunity to grow and help influence the future of British Basketball.
“I am proud and excited to work with such a phenomenal group of young girls. My hope is that we can grow as a unit over these next couple of years and truly embody the passion that the senior women’s team have shown over the last three years.
KENRICK LIBURD: Coached the GB Under-16s for the last three years, first as an assistant coach and then as head coach.
He is in his sixth year in the WBBL, currently with Nottingham Wildcats.
He said: “I’m really excited to be working with this group. There is great deal of depth and we have a pool of players with a solid amount of experience within international and performance environments.
“The first step is to get selection process right and then develop and implement a plan that will give us an opportunity to gain promotion.”
LEN BUSCH: The experienced Chicagoan has been Sevenoaks Suns head coach since 2014, winning the WBBL play-offs twice, the Trophy and being named coach of the year twice.
He was previously GB Under-18 women’s head coach.
TROY CULLEY: The Myerscough College Basketball Academy assistant coach supports Neal Hopkins with the establishment’s EABL and EYBL squads and leads on the Division 3 Men’s development programme.
Last season he lead Myerscough’s Under-18 Men to an undefeated league record in North Premier and the National Champions crown at May’s Final Four.
He said: “It has always been an honour to coach for England and I feel that every year I have been involved I have been able to progress.
“I have been extremely fortunate to be exposed to a number of invaluable coaching development opportunities both domestically and overseas [Myerscough competing in Europe; FIBA Europe Coaching Certificate; Masters in Elite Coaching Practice] that I feel have really helped equip me with the necessary tools to succeed at the next level.
“I am incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to lead the Under-16 Great Britain programme heading into the next European Cycle with the aim of building on the great work done in previous campaigns.”
CRAIG NICOL: The City of Edinburgh coach has previously been an assistant coach with GB Under-16s and has been to six European Championships with Scotland. He was Scotland’s assistant coach at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
He said: “I am delighted to be appointed as head coach of the programme. I aim to build on the previous success of the 18s and continue to compete with the best teams in Europe. There is a strong group of talented players at this age group and it will be great to bring them together in the summer.”
ALAN KEANE: Currently head coach of Reading Rockets (NBL1) and the JMA Rockets Academy, Keane has previously been GB Under-16 and 18s head coach, and coached England at Under-18, 16 and 15 level and was England assistant coach at the Commonwealth Games.
He said: “I have a desire to be GB senior head coach someday.”
There will be further news on staff appointments and team schedules in February.