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COACH Louise Brown says Warrnambool Mermaids will embrace their promotion to Big V’s highest tier in 2019.
The Mermaids will feature in championship grade following a restructure of basketball in Victoria which will include a new yet-to-be named elite league in place of the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL).
Brown’s roster – winner of the 2017 division two and 2018 division one titles – was impacted in the changes.
“We didn’t request to go up but that’s OK. At first I was a bit apprehensive,” she said.
“It is a challenge that we’ll take on.
“It is good for me as a coach and good for the girls who have been around the last couple of years to challenge themselves a little bit further.
“With the restructure of the competition, I think there’s four division one teams that have gone up so at least we know we’ll be competitive with them.
“It will only go one of two ways – we’ll either be successful or we won’t.”
Brown, who believes the upgrade will “keep me on my toes as coach”, expects the Mermaids to embrace home-grown talent.
An American import is an option but is dictated by finances.
“It would be nice if we could a sponsor who came along and said ‘here’s 20 grand’,” she said.
“Those things don’t happen on their own obviously. There’s a lot of work and planning and money that need to go behind that.
“I feel confident we have enough girls around here to be very competitive at that level.”
Brown will start talking to her 2018 roster in coming weeks, hopeful of retaining the bulk of the squad.
Molly McKinnon will miss next season with a knee injury and Carly Pulling is in doubt.
“I haven’t really had a chat to many of the girls, I’ve just let them have a good little break but over the next couple of weeks I need to start touching base with a few people and make sure they’re keen to play again and see if we have any gaps to fill if people aren’t playing,” she said.
Brown will contact former WNBL guard Nicole Gynes, a mother-of-two who has missed the past few seasons, and former Mermaid Maddy White, who was most valuable player in Warrnambool’s 2017 division two grand final series, to gauge their interest.
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