Bendigo Spirit is one of three Victorian

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 ...

teams in the Australian

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 ...

. The team, based in the regional city of

Bendigo, Victoria Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban populat ...

, joined the competition from the 2007/08 season.

History

The Bendigo Spirit were formed in 2007 and started playing out of

Bendigo Stadium Bendigo Stadium is an Australian sports and entertainment centre in Bendigo, Victoria. The stadium is home to the Bendigo Braves (NBL1) and Bendigo Spirit (WNBL). It hosted basketball matches during the 2006 Commonwealth Games and will host ne ...

, the first side based in regional Victoria. Coached by Bernie Harrower, the team was led by his daughter, Australian Opal and captain,

Kristi Harrower Kristi Harrower (born 4 March 1975) is an Australian professional basketball player, who three times (2000, 2004 and 2008) won the silver medal with the Australian Women's Team at the Summer Olympics, and also the bronze in 2012. She played in ...

. The Spirit have won the WNBL Championship twice (2013 & 2014) led by the likes of Harrower, Gabrielle Richards, Kelly Wilson as well as imports Chelsea Aubry and the now naturalised,

Kelsey Griffin Kelsey Michelle Griffin (born July 2, 1987) is an American-Australian professional women's basketball player. She was drafted 3rd overall in the 2010 WNBA Draft. Griffin played college basketball with the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Griffin was named ...

Season-by-season records

Source
Bendigo Spirit

Players

Current roster

Former players

Kathleen MacLeod Kathleen MacLeod (born 23 October 1986) is an Australian basketball player who was part of the Australian team that won the bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Personal MacLeod is from Melbourne. She has four siblings, two brothers and t ...

, (2007–08) *

Jenna O'Hea Jenna O'Hea (born 6 June 1987) is an Australian professional basketball player who currently plays for the Southside Flyers in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). O'Hea is also currently the captain of Australia's national team, th ...

, (2007–08) *

, (2008–2015) * Chelsea Aubry, (2009–2015) * Heather Oliver, (2010–2018) */

, (2012–2018) *

Sara Blicavs Sara Blicavs ( lv, Sāra Blicava; born 15 February 1993) is an Australian professional basketball player. She currently plays for the Southside Flyers in the WNBL Blicavs was a member of the Australian Women's basketball team (Opals) at the 2 ...

, (2013–2015) *

Belinda Snell Belinda Snell (born 10 January 1981) is an Australian women's basketball player. She is a member of the Australia women's national basketball team, and has won two silver medals in basketball at the 2004 & 2008 Summer Olympics, a bronze medal at ...

, (2014–2016) *

Betnijah Laney Betnijah Laney (born October 29, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for Rutgers University. Early life Laney started ...

, (2017–18) * Jennie Rintala * Carley Ernst *

Chevannah Paalvast Chevannah Paalvast (born 4 September 1991) is a professional basketball player from New Zealand. Professional career College Paalvast played college basketball for the Monmouth Hawks in West Long Branch, New Jersey, participating in NCAA Divi ...

* Alicia Froling * Amelia Todhunter

Coaches and staff

Head coaches

Kennedy Kereama Kennedy may refer to: People * John F. Kennedy (1917–1963), 35th president of the United States * John Kennedy (Louisiana politician), (born 1951), US Senator from Louisiana * Kennedy (surname), a family name (including a list of persons with t ...

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Ownership

In April 2022, the team's WNBL license was purchased from Bendigo Stadium Limited (BSL) by

Sports Entertainment Network Sports Entertainment Network (SEN), formerly Crocmedia, is an Australian radio and television distribution company established in 2006 by journalists James Swanwick and Craig Hutchison. SEN's parent company is Sports Entertainment Group (SEG ...

(SEN).

References

External links

Official WNBL Team Site

Bendigo Spirit official website
Women's National Basketball League teams Basketball teams in Victoria (Australia) Basketball teams established in 2007 Articles containing video clips {{Australia-basketball-team-stub