Mcintyre to lead indigenous girls

Young indigenous basketballers in the Wimmera will have a new mentor to look up to after Horsham’s Rebecca Mcintyre was appointed assistant coach of a new Basketball Victoria under-14 girls indigenous program.

The position is another step in the coaching career of Mcintyre, who was named Basketball Victoria Country’s under-16 girls development coach earlier this month.

Mcintyre said the focus should not be on her, but on the indigenous youth of the region who would benefit from the program.

“Growing up playing basketball and other sports, I learned values like discipline and hard work that have helped me in my life,” she said.

“It means a lot for me to be able to help young indigenous girls become better human beings and learn things that are going to help them in their lives.”

Mcintyre said she had experience working to engage girls and indigenous people through sports in her job at Wimmera Regional Sports Assembly.

She said there was plenty of scope for participation growth in female and indigenous basketball in the region.

“In the Wimmera we have a lot of indigenous kids in football and netball, but there’s a lot of room for improvement in basketball,” she said.

The program will involve regional camps for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Horsham, Wangaratta, Dandenong and Traralgon. The Horsham camp will be on November 10. The top 30 boys and girls from the regional camps will be invited to a state selection camp in December, with a chance to qualify for a Victorian squad.

Basketball Victoria project officer Matt Dunstan said Mcintyre would bring plenty to the role.

“It’s fantastic to see high calibre coaches seek out this opportunity to lead Basketball Victoria’s inaugural indigenous basketball teams,” he said.

“This program is important in helping use basketball to mentor indigenous players and help build new indigenous communities throughout Victoria.”