New coach Shane Bourke with some of his Gippsland Storm senior players (back) Amy Cusworth, Shane Bourke (coach), Brooke Flanigan, Jodie Proctor, Phillipa Harrison, Kylie Proctor, (front) Jayde Leota, Hayley O’Sullivan and Kylie Clark.GIPPSLAND Storm State League Netball Club has secured the services of top coach Shane Bourke on a fulltime basis.
He will head up the 15andunder development program as well as developing Storm’s third senior squad for the State League challenge later this year.
Shane, who lives near Warragul, was a former assistant coach to Melbourne Phoenix in the national league and worked with Norma Plummer, the current Australian coach for many years.
He said he was looking forward to the challenge of developing the two 15andunder squads and the third senior squad.
Storm is also gearing up for its only home game for the year on Saturday night 29 July at the Pakenham Indoor Stadium.
Both its State League squads (divisions one and two) are sitting on top of the ladder and will meet DC Force in a doubleheader.
The action will start at 6.30pm for the first game followed by the divisionone game at 8pm.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:AUCTION NIGHT
On the same night Storm will run a sporting auction night hosted by ABC sporting commentator Drew Morphett to aid the families of the Mildura tragedy earlier this year, where six teenagers lost their lives.
Signed items have been donated by many of the AFL clubs, V8 touring car teams and items from the music industry.
For inquiries regarding the night phone 5941 3442.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:BIG WIN AGAINST BALLARAT
Gippsland Storm played possibly its best game for the year last Wednesday night against fourthplaced Ballarat, winning by a resounding 24 goals.
With emphasis placed on a good start in the past few weeks, the girls got off to a flier, creating numerous turnovers through relentless pressure and the goalers rewarding the hard work by converting their opportunities.
The quartertime score of 188 reflected the control that Storm had over the game and set the standard for the remainder of the contest.
Ballarat was forced to make many changes at quarter time, but the Storm girls were not deterred by the inclusion of a dominant goaler and Sam Hodge took her out of the game through disciplined defence.
At half time the score was 3420.
Having built such a commanding lead at half time allowed for some positional changes in both attack and defence.
A heavy fall by Tahli Shields, prior to half time, saw her taken off the court with back soreness, but her replacement, Meg Evans, filled the void well, teaming with Hodge to create confusion and hesitation in and around the Ballarat attacking circle.
Regan Brokenshire came on for Pam Wouters at half time, both playing the GA position well, creating space for the taller Kylie Lush.
The final score saw the Storm triumph 64 to 40, with 74 attempts at goal at an 86 per cent conversion rate for the match.
One of the most pleasing aspect of the game was the defensive pressure created by Christie Proctor, Lee Kitchin and Jenny Jamieson through the midcourt, while Shona Osborne played her first game in division one, coming up from division two and fitted in well.
This week’s game promises to be a good hitout against a rejuvenated Melbourne Central that has put together some great results in the past few weeks.
