David Gould appointed as Gliders Head Coach

The Australian Gliders women’s wheelchair basketball team will have a new head coach starting immediately with the announcement of David Gould taking over from departed head coach Tom Kyle.

Gould, who hails from Adelaide, has participated in six Paralympics and six World Championship campaigns.

Five of those came as a player while more recently he featured as an assistant coach in London with the silver medal winning Gliders line-up and at the World Championships in Canada in 2014.

Last year, Gould brought home a silver medal as the head coach of the Devils Under-25’s junior national women’s team, representing Basketball Australia in Beijing at the IWBF World Championships.

He was also an assistant coach as part of the successful bronze medal winning Under-23 men’s Spinners from the 2013 Turkey World Championships.

“This promotion to head coach of Australia’s top women’s wheelchair team is testament to Gould’s commitment and passion to coaching,” said Basketball Australia High Performance Manager, Jan Stirling.

“I am thrilled and honoured to be named as head coach of the Gliders program,” said Gould.

“This is a program with a great history that has achieved many triumphs and I am looking forward to the challenge of taking these incredible athletes on a journey back to World Championship success.

“We will work hard as one unit to build up our program, and continue to improve the depth of the program and develop the next generation of players.”

Along with Gould’s signings, a number of staff members have been named to compliment his transition into the role.

The new assistant coaches include Stephen Charlton (Western Stars WNWBL Coach) and Ben Osborne (London Paralympics Assistant/NSWIS coach) while highly regarded AIS Physiologist Jo Miller, current team Physiotherapist Anna de Araugo and current Strength & Conditioning coordinator Rebecca Ryan from the Queensland Academy of Sport have all committed to the next phase of the Gliders program.

The women’s team will first get together at Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence with a proposed date of October 4-7.

Australian Gliders Coaching & Support Staff:
David Gould Head Coach Adelaide, South Australia
Stephen Charlton Assistant Coach Perth, Western Australia
Ben Osborne Assistant Coach Sydney, New South Wales
Jo Miller Physiologist Canberra, ACT | AIS
Anna de Araugo Physiotherapist Melbourne, Victoria
Rebecca Ryan S & C Coordinator Brisbane, Queensland | QAS

By Basketball Australia

Posted: 5/8/2016