We introduce to you our coaching team of the 2020/2021 season!

Jo Thornley
Jo started playing basketball at Naracoorte at the age of 8 and grew up around the basketball stadium as her family was heavily involved. She started coaching when she was 13, and once injury prevented her from playing anymore, coached at the Naracoorte kings over 5 years, in both U16 and U18 girls, bringing home a couple of country championship flags. She has also coached locally in Mt Barker in various age groups, as well as for Eastern Hills for a few years coaching U16 & U18 girls. Jo is looking forward to going back to basics, like shooting accuracy and movement etc, and loves to have fun as a coach with kids who smile and enjoy their basketball.

Anna Keen
Anna is a returning Storm coach and has been playing basketball herself for nearly 12 years. She has come up through the Storm program herself, playing as a top age U12 and all the way through to U18’s. She also played a few years of District basketball in U16’s, and has coached local basketball for 3 years. In her first year out of playing, she was offered to coach the U12 girls for storm, and is now heading into her 3rd year of coaching for Storm, as well as having taken sessions for DSNP/CADP for two years. She is looking forward to another season with a great bunch of coaches, along with seeing the growth of all our players.

Sam Sherriff
Another returning Storm coach, Sam Sherriff coached our U12 boys last season and did a wonderful job, as well as stepping in for other age groups when required throughout the season. He was a basketball player for 20 years at both local, District and SA country levels, and has coached local and Storm for the last 7 years. Sam believes that Storm basketball is a great opportunity for kids and families to enjoy basketball and test our talents around the state, and is looking forward to again be part of a team and improve the skills and team play through the season.

James Murphy
We are thrilled to welcome Murph back to Storm after having a season off! His experience is extensive but just to name a few, he has both played and coached SA Country for a number of years as well as district for Norwood. He has been the Head Coach for U16 Nationals and Assistant for U18s, as well as at District level, coaching various Div1 teams from U12s to U20s. On the Storm front, he was the Storm Coaching Director as well as having coached various Storm teams over the years. He is hoping to have lots of fun this season and have the players improve and learn some things as a team and individuals. Welcome back Murph!

Rowan Sims
Having coached his first year at Storm last year with the U16 Boys & the U14 Boys Team 2, Rowan and these boys were able to bring home two carnival and one JCC flag. He is looking forward to building on the connections I’ve developed over the last couple of seasons at local and Storm and helping the kids achieve more success. Rowan has been involved in basketball, both playing, coaching and reffing since a junior in the mid north, and enjoys the challenge of developing the kids and getting the best out of them.

Lisa-Jane Drefke
Another incredibly experienced individual that we are extremely lucky to have on board this season! As well as playing SA Country herself, she has been an SA country coach for the U14s,16s and 18s. She was named the NZ ACJBC tour U14 girls coach, as well as the 2020 U18 girls assistant coach of the SAC state team. Prior to this was the assistant coach of the 2019 U16 girls SAC State Team, and the Central Queensland school girls U16 girls coach in 2015/2016. She has previously coached DNSP in the Riverland and Strathalbyn, and coaching this season she is wanting to create positive relationships with players and parents, as well as develop coaching skills.

Bella Garwood
Bella is another one who has come up through the Storm program herself and moved into coaching, doing both local and Storm for the last 5 years in various age groups. She has played local basketball since U12, District for Eastern Mavericks in U14s, as well as having played Storm from U12 through to 18’s and Senior women’s. She has coached DNSP, and this season is wanting to get to as many games as she can, as she loves watching all the teams and seeing their growth over the season!

Hayley Wadforth
We are also super excited to welcome back Hayley after a season off coaching! Hayley has an extensive playing background, having played State, Nationals and Premier League. She has also coached for a few years, applying her vast basketball knowledge to the groups she has coached. Hayley’s main goal is group growth, and she hopes to see individuals succeed independently with their own goals, whilst the group as a whole also showing improvements in each carnival. She of course would also like to ultimately get some wins on the board across the season!

Chris Clark
Chris also coached Storm last season and was the U18 Boys Head coach, and we are really pleased to have him back this season. He has wide-spread playing and coaching experience, with over 40 years combined experience as a player/ coach. As a player, he represented various senior teams for S&DBA (prior to formation of Storm). He has coached at District level at both West Adelaide and Forestville, which included Head Coach positions for the U14 and U16 boys programs and was the Assistant Coach for the U14 West Adelaide girls team which won the National Club Championship. He was also the Assistant coach for SA Country U18 Boys, and has had various coaching roles for S&DBA and Storm over the years. He is very keen to continue the development of the U18 boys program, along with the Storm program overall, to ensure player growth and development throughout the year within the program.
He is looking to pass on his experience to ensure Storm players can be the best they can be within a team environment, which in-turn will bring success to the Program.

Kyle Barnes
Kyle is new to coaching at Storm this season, although did referee for Storm last season, as well as refereeing district. He has played junior district basketball for Eastern Mavericks and Forestville. He is currently playing U23s and seniors district for SA Church, and was an assistant coach last year at Mavs, as well as having coached hornets and at EHBA. Kyle is looking forward to playing for Storm this season and refereeing again, and coaching.

Tom Boxer
Another young experienced coach we are looking forward to welcoming back to Storm! Tom has played State, District and basketball for Storm since U12’s and has coached since 2013. He is hoping to see improvement and success in the kids this year and then taking their game and confidence to the next level, as well as building his coaching experience.

As well as the above, we are also privileged to have Renee as our coach co-ordinator. Although she won’t advertise it, she too has considerable basketball experience in both playing and coaching and has been involved in basketball in all levels. She is an absolute asset to the Storm group and we know she will help keep this coaching group in check!

We are so excited and lucky to have so much talent amongst our coaches, with some very impressive experience! We can’t wait for them to share their knowledge throughout the season with our athletes and see them all learn and develop.