GB WOMEN’S TEAM GETS NEW COACHING & SUPPORT TEAM FOR EXCITING SUMMER OF BASKETBALL ACTION
Following on from the announcement earlier in the year, which revealed that former Spanish international basketball player, Anna Montañana, would be the new head coach for the Great Britain Basketball senior women’s team, more new staffing appointments have been confirmed.
Joining Anna will be two assistant coaches, Krumesh Patel and Inigo Nunez. Patel is head coach for the Under 18 women’s team and also coached the GB Basketball 3×3 women’s team to a place in the semi-finals of the recent FIBA 3×3 Europe Cup qualifiers in Romania.
Krumesh Patel said: “I’m super excited to be working with the GB Basketball Women’s team. It’s something I’ve been working towards and wanted to be part of. I’m grateful for the opportunity to work at the highest level with the national team.”
The support staff for the GB Senior Women’s team also includes Max Hirst as Performance Analyst, Dr Peter Thain as Head of Sports Science and Medicine, Dr Linda Evans as Team Doctor, Ross Knevett as Sports Therapist and Dr Stephen Bird as Strength and Conditioning Coach.
Dr Stephen Bird commented on his appointment: “I am honoured by this appointment and the chance to work with the GB Senior Women’s team. This is a fantastic opportunity to elevate female athlete health and performance through dedicated female performance optimisation within British Basketball.
“I look forward to collaborating with the coaches, performance and medical staff, and the talented female athletes as we forge a new path to success the ‘GB way’.”
Paula Charity has also been appointed as Team Manager for the GB Senior Women and long-term General Manager, Mark Lloyd, will be continuing to support the team, as will Lauren Newham as media officer. Lauren has also recently taken up the role of Digital Communications Manager and Content Creator with the British Basketball Federation.
The British Basketball Federation has been working hard in recent months to put in place a fresh and more collaborative coaching and support structure for all of the youth and senior teams as Fiona Pimblett, Performance Lead for GB Basketball, explains:
“We’ve made some really exciting new appointments in the GB Senior Women’s performance staffing team, with a view to having GB Senior player engagement and support throughout the year, rather than just being window based.
“The level of expertise we’ve been able to bring into these positions is incredible and I can’t wait to see the programme that the GB Senior Women’s staffing team puts on!
“I’m also really happy to see so much collaboration across the GB Senior Men’s and Women’s teams, and alignment now down through the GB Youth teams. We have the senior team head coaches working more closely with the youth team head coaches, and full alignment across our team management and sport science and medical operations.
“With the new staff members coming into post on the Senior Women’s team, I’m looking forward to seeing this continue to grow. We have an exciting summer ahead!”
The appointments come ahead of July’s Subway Summer Slam which will see Montañana take charge of the GB team for the first time at London’s Copper Box Arena.
This exciting international game on 21 July will see the GB Women’s team take on Germany as part of the visitors’ preparations for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The GB Basketball Men’s team will take on South Sudan three days earlier on the 18 July.
The women’s game will be valuable preparation for the home side ahead of their trip to Rwanda for the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026 pre-qualifying tournament in August.
The full coaching and support team for the GB Basketball senior women’s team is as follows:
Head Coach – Anna Montañana
Assistant Coach – Krumesh Patel
Assistant Coach – Inigo Nunez
General Manager – Mark Lloyd
Performance Analyst – Max Hirst
Team Manager – Paula Charity
Head of Sports Science & Medicine – Dr Peter Thain
Team Doctor – Dr Linda Evans
Strength & Conditioning Coach – Dr Stephen Bird
Sports Therapist – Ross Knevett
Media Officer – Lauren Newham
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