Basketball Ballarat confirm all new Men’s Youth Coaching line up

Central Highlands Water Ballarat Miners Youth are pleased to announce an all new coaching line up for the 2021 Victorian Youth Championship Season with Michael Ryan announced as Head Coach and to be joined by Assistant Coach Kyle Slack.

After a successful 2019 Season which saw the Under-23 men’s team win the BigV Youth League Division One Championship; 2020 would of seen the team transition into the Victorian Youth Championship before the Covid-19 Pandemic ultimately cancelled the season.  

Head Coach Michael Ryan was looking forward to stepping in as Head Coach for the 2021 Season and in the Victorian Youth Championship Division.

“I'm extremely excited to be the Head Coach of the Central Highlands Water Ballarat Miners Youth team for this coming season, it's just fantastic that basketball is back for 2021.” Ryan said.

“It's certainly an honour and a privilege to be involved with such an historic and prestigious organisation. To know that some of Australia's great athletes and coaches have walked our corridors, it really is incredibly humbling to become part of that history.” Ryan said.

Basketball Ballarat continues to focus on the development of local talent through the Junior Elite Team Program and into their Youth League Team as a pivotal step to progressing into long-term NBL1 players for Ballarat. 

“I'm thankful to Brendan Joyce and Basketball Ballarat for providing me with this opportunity for the 2021 season and I can't wait to get started. I'm also excited about the opportunity to help develop and work with our elite youth league athletes, and from what I've seen so far, we have a very engaged and highly competent group.” Ryan said.

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Ryan acknowledged the tremendous work that previous coaches Daniel Knaggs and Ryan McKew did to get the team into the Championship Division.

“Daniel and Ryan obviously had great success in Youth League One in 2019 and earned promotion to Youth Championship Division for 2020, however their opportunity to continue to develop the athletes through 2020 (and see how they could compete at the top tier) was taken away by Covid-19. So, this year, we will to continue to build on those solid foundations and ensure we provide a rich learning environment that allows the athletes to develop and perform at their peak on a consistent basis.” Ryan said.

Ryan mentioned the importance of balancing the team both on and off the court.

“I truly believe that if we provide the environment for the athletes to grow and prosper, not just as basketballers, but also as men, then good things will follow. What I mean by that is, we should never underestimate the power of developing critical life skills, such as communication, teamwork, resilience, commitment and perseverance through a team environment. If we achieve this in 2021, then we will have had a good season.” Ryan ended with.

Basketball Ballarat was thrilled to also announce that Kyle Slack will join Michael Ryan as his Assistant Coach for 2021.

“I'm very excited to be part of the coaching team for the Central Highlands Water Ballarat Miners Youth team in 2021. The culture that has been built around the senior program over the past few years is great and sets all teams up with a huge opportunity for success moving forward.” Slack said.

“After a huge 2019 season winning a championship and no 2020 season, what to expect in the 2021 season is a bit of an unknown. However the squad is starting to take great shape and I’m highly confident of our team being very competitive again this season.” Slack ended with.

The Central Highlands Water Ballarat Miners Rush Youth Teams will kick off their 2021 BigV Championship Youth Season on March 13^th.