Jan Stirling (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Graham; born 20 July 1955) is a former Australian women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and coach. She played for the

Australia women's national basketball team The Australian women's national basketball team is nicknamed the Opals, after the brightly coloured gemstone common to the country. From 1994 onwards, the Opals have been consistently competitive and successful having won nine medals at offic ...

during the 1970s and competed for Australia at the 1975 World Championship held in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. In the domestic

Women's National Basketball League The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is the pre-eminent professional women's basketball league in Australia. It is currently composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the women's counterpart to the National Baske ...

(WNBL), Stirling played 163 games for

North Adelaide Rockets North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

. Following her retirement in 1991, Stirling went on to become a successful basketball coach. Stirling led

Adelaide Lightning The Adelaide Lightning is an Australian professional women's basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League ( WNBL). The club is based in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. The club was formed in 1993 and they play i ...

to 12 straight

(WNBL) finals appearances between 1993 and 2004 and five consecutive Grand Final appearances resulting in four Championships. Stirling was WNBL Coach of the Year in 1993. Stirling became an assistant coach of the Opals in 1994 and became head coach in 2001, the first time a former Australian player, and a woman, had ever taken charge of the Opals.Jan Stirling AM
Celebrity Speakers. Retrieved 2012-12-02. In 2004, Stirling quit the Lightning to concentrate full-time on coaching the Opals. Stirling had immediate success as national coach, winning a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

at the 2002 World Championships in China. She then led the Opals to

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, to gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne,

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

at the 2006 FIBA world championship in Brazil and silver at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. As a result, Stirling has been described as Australia's most successful basketball coach.Wilson, Caroline (9 April 2010)
''Girl Power''
The Age. Retrieved 2012-12-02. Following the 2008 Olympics, Stirling stepped down as the Opals head coach, becoming a consultant to the

Russian Basketball Federation Russian Basketball Federation (russian: Российская Федерация Баскетбола, Rossiyskaya Federatsiya Basketbola), also known as RBF, is a national governing body of basketball in Russia. It was founded in 1991, and is the ...

. Since 2010, Stirling has been assisting

Port Adelaide Power Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where they are nicknamed ...

with their Leadership program. In November 2010,

Basketball Australia Basketball Australia is the governing and controlling body of basketball in Australia, responsible for the development and promotion of the sport at all levels. Basketball Australia sanctions Australia's two professional leagues, the Nation ...

appointed Stirling as Manager of the national program of the Australian Women's

Wheelchair Basketball Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...

Program. Stirling was awarded a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AM) in 2008 for her contribution to sport - as an elite coach, player and as a contributor to professional development and the community. In 2013, Stirling was elected to the

Australian Basketball Hall of Fame The Australian Basketball Hall of Fame was instituted by the National Basketball League (NBL) in 1998 as the ''NBL Hall of Fame'' as part of their 20th season celebrations. The NBL initiated the Hall of Fame to recognise the outstanding players ...

.Basketball Australia
''Hall of Fame: Jan Stirling''
Retrieved 2016-01-30. She was inducted into the

FIBA Hall of Fame The FIBA Hall of Fame, or FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame, honors players, coaches, teams, referees, and administrators who have greatly contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA, in 1991. It includes the " Samar ...

, in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stirling, Jan 1955 births Living people Australian women's basketball players Basketball players from South Australia FIBA Hall of Fame inductees Australian sports executives and administrators Sportswomen from South Australia