Basketball is a way of life for Mackay’s respected coaching guru Jamiey Doevendans.
Whether it is planning the Mackay Meteorettes’ charge towards the NBL1 North women’s title or simply devoting his spare time to assisting the St Patrick’s College Boys and Girls basketball programs, you will find this revered hoops mentor approaching his work with a genuine passion.
The dedicated Douvendans takes over the reins as Head Coach of the Meteorettes this season in the NBL1 – an opportunity and challenge that he relishes.
But the experienced campaigner gets as much enjoyment with teaching youngsters the finer points of basketball and celebrates a milestone this season when he chalks up a decade of yeoman service with aspiring hoopers at St Patrick’s College.
“It is a significant milestone and one that I am definitely proud of,” revealed Jamiey.
“I thoroughly enjoy working with the school’s basketball program and preparing the players for the annual Champion Schools tournament on the Gold Coast.
“There is so much untapped potential in both the boys and girls ranks and hopefully I can play a role in the students’ basketball development.”
You can find the decorated coach putting the students through their paces on a regular basis at the College courts – honing their skills in preparation for the big tournaments ahead.
Douvendans has achieved plenty of success previously in the Mackay Basketball NBL1 program.
He was an assistant coach with the Mackay Meteors men’s team for three years, figuring in two QBL championship-winning campaigns before switching over to the Meteorettes program as an assistant coach for seven seasons.
During this period, he helped guide the women to another QBL title and two more Grand Final appearances.
Testimony of the College’s depth of basketball talent is the selection of eleven students in various Queensland and Capricornia representative squads.
13-year-old young guns Cooper Currie, Treyce Ciantar and Usai Bickey were named in the Emerging Queensland Under 15s team that competed at a National interstate tournament in Melbourne earlier this year as part of the Future Development Program.
When Toowoomba hosts the Queensland School Sport State 13-16yrs Basketball Championships from May 11-14, there’ll be a host of St Patrick’s players featured in the Capricornia line ups.
These include Mackay Meteorettes shooter Charli Bliss, who will compete in the 17-18yrs Girls division; Cooper Garnham and Julius Jurd (13-16yrs Boys division) and Tahlia Jensen, Eden Catip, Lily Mapp, Mackensie Brown and Hannah Jensen (13-16yrs Girls division).
By Chris Karas
Jamiey Douvendans discusses the finer points of basketball with St Patrick’s College senior players Ben Devitt, Max Cain, Amarco Doyle and Baxter Norsworthy
