Tara Murray
Melton basketball coach Emily Attard is looking to embrace the opportunity to be involved at the Ivor Burge National Championships next week.
At just 20, Attard will be an assistant coach for the Victorian women’s Ivor Burge side, a competition for people with an intellectual disability.
Attard, who runs Specialist Hoops in Melton and Bacchus Marsh, said she was excited by the opportunity.
“During COVID in 2020, I applied to be an assistant coach,” she said.
“I was successful in becoming a development coach and was promoted to an assistant coach, but it didn’t go ahead.
“I applied again and I was successful. I’ve worked along with head coach Joe Borg to select a team to go to Mackay.”
Having started Specialist Hoops to provide somewhere for people with disabilities to play basketball, Attard said she never expected to be coaching at a national championships.
She said she was keen to see what the team could do against the best in the country.
“I’m expecting a lot of tough games for our girls,” she said. “It’ll be great to see the talent across the Ivor Burge and under-20s.
“It should be a really good week.”
Attard said now she was part of the program it was something that she wanted to continue to be part of for years to come.
She said becoming the head coach is something she would love to do down the track.
“Hopefully I rise through the ranks and be the head coach in a few years time, but I need a bit more experience under my belt.
“I want to get a bit more experience as an assistant coach with a couple more nationals under my belt.”
While she’s focused on the nationals for the time being, the Specialist Hoops program continues to grow.
Attard said the last four months a number of people involved had grown.
“We are up to 65 at Melton and 20 at Bacchus Marsh.”
