The Bay of Plenty Basketball Foundation has announced the appointment of Mel Bennett as head coach of the newly formed Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne Women's National Basketball League team.

Bennett has been a coach at the Tauranga City Basketball Association and previously worked as an assistant coach with the Junior Tall Ferns in 2016.

'I'm both pumped and excited to be coaching this team right from its inception,” says Bennett.

'With the 2022 season fast approaching, we have started recruitment with a strong focus on selecting players from across the three regions. We have some of New Zealand's top talent looking to join us for the coming season. We will be holding open trials for the team in March.

'There's a lot of mahi to be done in a short space of time but we're going at pace.”

The official league launch will be on International Women's Day, on March 8.

At that point the new team's official name will also be announced.

The BOPBF will establish training hubs in cities across the three regions. Players can then train weekly with a local coach in their local gym alongside regularly training as a team under Bennett.

BOPBF spokesperson Lorraine Miller explains that the appointment is with the future in mind and that she is excited to provide opportunities across the region.

'We want to create pathways for both players and coaches,” she says.

'It is important to us that we create opportunities for New Zealand women to coach at a high level without having to look overseas for work opportunities. Mel is actively involved in the Basketball New Zealand High Performance Programme, which is also important as we want to have a strong relationship with the national body.

'In all, we couldn't be happier to have Mel in the role of head coach for the team.”

'Partnership with the local basketball associations will be vital in supporting the players across the three regions,” says BOPBF co-founder John Miller.

'The associations have long wanted opportunities for local women to play basketball at a competitive level and we're enthusiastic to work with those groups to make it happen.”