With the success of the Brisbane Capitals Development League Teams last year, Brisbane Basketball is pleased to announce the appointments of its 2012 D league Coaches. With the program going from strength to strength with a number of Brisbane Capitals juniors using the program to progress to the QBL program and onto represent their state, country and play overseas.

Heading up the Women’s program will be Steph Alekna who returns in her second year as Head Coach. Steph went all the way to the semi-finals last year and had the second best record in the league with 10 wins and 2 losses, Steph was an obvious selection to coach. Steph, who has also been a part of the Junior Representative program, coaching the Under 18 girls, working as an assistant to QBL Coach Dwayne Vigilance last year, and more recently being appointed Apprentice Coach to the Under 18 Queensland South Women.

After losing a tough semi-final to South West last year, she is keen for redemption and another shot at it this year.

“Last year was a very successful year even though we didn't make it to the Grand Final. Going into the semi-final without 2 of our stars was always going to be tough, the girls battled well but unfortunately South West were too strong for us on the day. “

When asked what she would change this year compared with last, “coming in to 2012 we don't plan to change too much. Last year we were by far the best defensive team in the league and that will be our main focal point this year. We have a lot of young girls coming into the squad this year that suit our style of play perfectly and when you put those girls with the senior girls in the group we will make a very tough team. “

With her involvement over the last few years seeing a number of different faces wear the Brisbane Capitals singlet and move onto bigger and better things, a mixture of girls coming from last year plus a few new faces looking to fill out the roster in 2012. “I am really excited about the Brisbane Capitals D League team this year as we have a lot of young talent coming through the ranks that are very keen to prove themselves. I think the combination of the enthusiasm and talent from the young girls and experience and toughness from our senior group will make one of the toughest teams we have had over the past few years. “

Steph will be working to continue to provide pathways to our junior girls looking to make a future out of basketball and will be working with Kristen Veal to ensure that our girls can make that jump to the next level the QBL. “I am definitely keen to learn as much as I can from Kristen this season. She has played at the highest levels all across the world so she definitely has a lot of knowledge and experiences that I can learn from. She also knows what it takes to play at an elite level so hopefully she can help some of our young talent take their game to the next level.”

Heading up the Brisbane Capitals Men in 2012 will be one of the most qualified and experienced coaches in the competition. Danny Breen returns to the helm as the D League Coach and this year he is ready and raring to help another exciting group of young men develop into senior basketball players.

Danny who has worked as Head of the Queensland High Performance program (NITP), won QBL Coach of the Year in 2003, coached numerous State and Representative Teams will bring all his experience and wealth of knowledge to the program again.

Last year with a team that had more rotations to their roster due to injuries and availabilities that saw the group suit up anywhere from six to twelve players he was still able to guide the team to a mid-season run at the finals. The mid-season run of seven wins and one loss which included a final minute win against cross-river rivals Spartans, after starting the season with two losses, saw the Capitals finish in 5^th and only 3% behind Caboolture.

With a number of last year’s core moving on to pursue college aspirations Danny will have new players to develop, and again his focus will not change.” Here at Brisbane my goal for this team is develop players that can make the next step which is the QBL, by doing this we could reach the finals and if we do it is a bonus but not necessarily the ultimate goal of a true Development League. “

The only thing that might change is that with Brisbane starting D League trials now he will have more time to prepare and with this will come “Greater demands (of the players). As the program and competition grows it will be paramount to the athlete and the clubs growth and success that we physically, skilfully and mentally challenge them at each and every training session and game. “

One thing is for sure for all the challenges and benefits of having a new group this year that Danny is not in any way phased by what surprises may present themselves during the season and he will continue to rely on his knowledge and experiences to be able to adapt to the changing environment of the D League.

“It offers both challenges and bonuses; The challenge is getting them to understand the difference from junior to senior basketball and their role within a new team as this may have changed, the bonus is that only the players that truly want to develop and go to the next level keep coming back and for that reason alone we can and will provide the opportunities via this program.”