For the past six years, Shane Riley has been the backbone of junior development for basketball in Benalla.
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Strengthening the foundations of what Benalla Basketball Association's junior ranks continue to builds upon today, Riley, as junior development coordinator, has implemented new programs, adjusted club protocols in line with those set out by Basketball Victoria and brought in and run numerous skills and training days for players and coaches.
It's also not unusual to see Riley put his hand up to help in all aspects of game day, including umpiring and scoring other teams' games before coaching his own squads.
But after years of taking on so much responsibility, often something has to give eventually.
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So, nearing the end of 2020, Riley officially finished up in his role as coordinator.
Though do not expect to see the beloved figure disappear completely from the courts, as Riley refocusses solely on his coaching commitments moving forward.
He continues to coach his under-14 Girls representative team at Benalla, and will also be leading the VJBL North East Bushrangers under-16 Girls team in 2021.
Starting at the association with very little background in basketball, it was Riley’s kids, Isabella and Tom who first got their father involved.
“I had no basketball background, none. I played in grade five and six, but I was absolutely rubbish,” Riley said with a laugh.
“It was only when Issy and Tom started, I came down and I ended up coaching a domestic team.
“One of the coaches never came back, so I said I’d do it and would just sit there and say ‘pass, shoot'.
“I had no clue, but Evelyn (Dosser) helped with some guidance on what I should say and do.”
From watching Issy at skill and representative days, Riley soon became further immersed in the art of coaching thanks to the help of Nat Weston.
“She encouraged me to go to more skills days, too,” Riley said.
“Since then I’ve been hooked on it, I really enjoy it.”
According to fellow coach Michelle Pastuszka, the fruits of Riley’s labour in recent years has now begun to show itself.
“He encourages kids to participate in those (skills) programs and because of that we are now starting to see some of our kids making it through and getting selected,” she said.
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Reflecting on his time as coordinator, Riley said one of the best things his did was introduce the Aussie Hoops program into the association.
“It’s just so simple, the cards are there. The kids just want to have fun, muck around and shoot,” he said.
“So that’s been getting bigger and bigger.
“And for me it’s been good to see the Aussie Hoops kids now playing in under-12s and to see them dribble the ball and shoot properly.
“You get a bit of a joy from it.
“Watching them, from what you taught them and seeing them now get somewhere.”
And as players continue to move through the different age groups, Riley said the quality of Benalla's representative teams continued to rise along with it.
“It’s improving heaps, and I definitely notice it this year with the under-12 boys’ and girls’ squads,” he said.
“Just their development and how far they are ahead. When we started, we were miles from it.”
Riley said the aim at the association continued to be about building up its teams to a competitive division-one standard.
“That’s the aim, though sometimes we’ll be really competitive and sometimes we may be off the mark, and look at division two,” he said.
“But what I’ve realised though over the last couple years if we don’t have the under-12s it’s too late.
“We need to be getting them in younger and in squad teams and build on that.
“And even if they don’t want to do squad, they can get more confidence in training to then go on and play domestic.”
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Another Benalla coach, Amy Nicholas, who is taking over the junior development coordinator role in 2021, said Riley’s impact had not just been on the players, but on coaches as well.
“It’s not just the kids’ side, Shane got us more involved in coaching,” Nicholas said of herself and Pastuszka.
“We go to him with all our coaching questions and he offers us heaps of guidance and information.”
Nicholas and Pastuszka agreed people often did not see the time and dedication Riley had put into the program.
“People underestimate the man-hours and time Shane puts in,” Nicholas said.
“He’s literally spent that many hours away from his own family down here to give something to our town and the club.”
“He has been so committed to our association in general and put a lot of hours into junior development and into coaches. He always takes that time with the kids,” Pastuszka added.
As another year comes and goes, Riley’s enthusiasm to see the local association grow bigger and better remains as bright as ever.
“I would really like to see the domestic competition grow, especially with the girls and I want our squad teams to keep improving and getting better and better,” he said.
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“It’d be nice to have one or two more courts, and not lose any of our players elsewhere.
“And just more coaches – we’ve got more of the younger players and under-18s coming back and coaching. Hopefully, that grows and gets bigger.”
With Riley's tireless work setting the foundations for success in its junior ranks, he has surely left the association in the right place to do so.
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