The Sunbury Jets have announced Nathan Heywood as their coach for next year’s Big V men’s championship season.
Heywood was assistant coach for the championship side this season, under John White.
White stood down at the end of the season, after two seasons in charge of the men’s side, having previously coached the women’s side too.
Heywood said he was looking forward to this new opportunity.
“I’ve been working towards this with the club for the last three to four years,” he said.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to work and led the senior men’s program for the Jets, it’s a great program.
“I’ve been involved with the youth league development team in the seasons prior to the assistant role this season.
“We [he and White] had some conversations throughout the year on what I needed to do to bridge the gap.
“I’ve worked a lot with [coaching director] Kennedy [Kereama] on what things I needed to work on to be in the best position to take on this role.”
Heywood has been involved heavily in basketball across Melbourne’s north-west for a number of years across a number of different clubs.
He said the development of young athletes was one of the things that he really enjoyed the most.
With the Jets youth league men’s side claiming the Big V division youth league title, Heywood has plenty of young talent to work with at the Jets.
“It is exciting to work with them,” he said. “I’ve worked with many of them the last couple of years in juniors, under-18s and the youth league and seen them grow into young men.”
The Jets in their announcement said Heywood brings plenty of experience and passion for the game to the role.
“Nathan Heywood’s coaching journey has been nothing short of impressive,” the Jets said.
“Prior to joining our coaching staff, he honed his skills as a coach at various levels of the game, from youth programs to junior teams.
“His diverse coaching background, along with his knowledge of the game, makes him the ideal candidate to lead our team.”
Jets’ general manager Chris Tighe said they believe that Heywood’s leadership will take the club’s state championship men’s team to new heights and continue the tradition of excellence that our fans have come to expect.
The Jets were knocked out of the finals this year in straight sets after making the grand final series the season before.
Heywood said that was something that stung the playing group;.
“The last two years we’ve been on the cusp and not able to achieve success,” he said. “We’re keen to get as many back as possible there’s uninsured business.”
Tara Murray
