Tara Murray
New Bacchus Marsh Lions’ Country Basketball League women’s coach Josiah Smith is keen to build a strong program for the future.
Smith, who was earlier this year appointed Bacchus Marsh’s director of coaching, will lead the senior women’s side replacing Grace Bibby.
Smith said he was excited to get back into senior coaching after a couple of years off after COVID-19.
“It’s really good,” he said. “I’m relatively new to the association, having started at the start of 2023 for the junior season.
“I’ve been director of coaching and been coaching a junior team and I’m excited to help shape the senior program and integrate some under-16s and under-18s to stay around and aspire to be part of.
“I want to put a product on the floor that the young players want to come and watch.”
Smith brings a wealth of experience to the role, having been the Bulleen Boomers youth league championship men’s coach before COVID intervened.
He was an assistant coach at the Sunbury Jets when they won two state championship women titles and has had experiences in WNBL, NBL and international settings.
He said he had learned a lot along the way and was looking to bring a lot of that to Bacchus Marsh.
Smith said joining the Bacchus Marsh association allowed him to expand the work he does with his coaching.
“I’ve lived in Bacchus Marsh the last 10 years,” he said. “There’s been a big shift after lock down with a young family.
“I was looking for coaching opportunities closer to home. The club is quite young and it was a great opportunity for my coaching and the development side, rather than just coaching.
“There was mutual interest there.”
The Lions finished fifth last season, with four wins and four losses for the season.
Smith said his first aim was to keep the squad together and go from there.
“We don’t want to bleed players out,” he said. “We want to retain as many of the existing group as possible.
“We will then look at recruitment and promotion for whatever holes that we have in the team.
“We want to promote some of our under-18s and those who have aged out.”
Smith said results this season wouldn’t be how they fully judge the season. He said it was about continuing to build on what they have already been doing.
“It’s not how many games we win this year, it’s how many over the next three seasons,” he said.
“If we win 10 games and then have to build from scratch again, that’s not what we want to do.
“If we can win five, then six, then seven with the majority being the same core group coming through with some juniors coming through, that’s a successful run in my opinion.”
