High Performance

State Program

Basketball Victoria provides opportunities for athletes to represent Victoria, Victoria Country or Victoria Metropolitan in age groups from Under-16, Under-18 and Under-20 as well as our Ivor Burge (athletes with an intellectual disability) and Kevin Coombs Cup (wheelchair basketball) teams.

Athletes are nominated by Association Director of Coaching or Lead Coach and then selected from tryouts held yearly by Basketball Victoria’s High Performance staff to attend the Nationals Championships and represent their state against the best of Australia’s junior talent. Victorian teams have consistently shone at Australian Junior Championships, with a number of national championships won over the past 50 years.

High Performance Head Coaches

Our High Performance Head Coaches –  Jenna O'Hea (Victoria Metropolitan Women), Darren Best (Victoria Metropolitan Men), Zoe Carr (Victoria Country Women) and Nathan Cooper-Brown (Victoria Country Men) – work in coordination to provide Victorian athletes with the best possible coaching daily training environment.

They are charged with leading the coaching of the State Development Program, State Team Program and High Performance (Victorian National Performance Program) portfolio for identified Victorian athletes and coaches.

They will enable our elite players and coaches to successfully perform at a national and international level, with each Head Coach to prioritise the development of future Victorian Olympians, Paralympians and World Championship participants.

Zoe Carr

Zoe has found success as both a player and a coach within the Australian basketball community, shining from the get-go in Victorian basketball.

As someone who has experienced the Basketball Victoria pathway for herself, she today stands as Basketball Victoria’s High Performance Head Coach for Country Women.

As a junior player, she was a perennial presence in our state teams as a five-time gold medalist at the Australian Junior Championships. Zoe’s elite skills took her to Canberra after she earned an AIS scholarship. This allowed her to take her first professional steps in the WNBL where she would later go on to play 152 games in the league. 

Following her senior career as a player, Zoe switched her attention to coaching and flourished in several roles including Victoria Under-20 Women’s head Coach – winning multiple gold medals at Australian Junior Championships – as well as being the inaugural NBL1 Women’s Head Coach at the Knox Raiders. A Performance Level Accredited Coach, five-time State Assistant and Head Coach, three-time NBL1 Head Coach and current Under-17 Sapphires Assistant Coach, Zoe is a mentor who continues to thrive for the development of athletes on a daily basis.

Jenna O'Hea

Jenna O'Hea has joined Basketball Victoria with a wealth of experience in basketball, having travelled the world competing as well as representing Australia.

O'Hea is going to be a strong addition to the High Performance coaching staff, as she will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the team from her career on and off the court. She has travelled the world competing in the WNBA, Europe and then back home for the WNBL, whilst also being a part of multiple Olympic and World Cup teams as an Opal. 

Her professional experience of working with athletes as a Wellbeing and Engagement Officer at the AIS along with working with AFL Queensland as their Women's and Girls State Coordinator, along with her professional playing experience will be highly valuable to our High Performance program and its evolution. 

O'Hea understands what it is like to be selected in the Victorian pathways, as during her junior career she was selected six times to represent Victoria and then received a scholarship to attend the Centre of Excellence in Canberra.

High Performance Hubs

With increased demand for elite basketball coaching and training in suburban and regional areas, the Victorian Government has partnered with Basketball Victoria to create seven High Performance Hubs established by a $5 million contribution in the 2019/20 Victorian Budget at Broadmeadows, Geelong, Werribee, Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton and Traralgon. 

Basketball Victoria also independently established three hubs at the State Basketball Centre (Wantirna South), the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (Albert Park) and Casey Stadium (Cranbourne). In 2021, Montmorency was added as the 11th High Performance Hub.

Athletes at each Hub will be coached by Basketball Victoria appointed head coaches to develop the necessary skills to play in elite leagues around Australia, throughout the world and to earn scholarships to American collegiate basketball.

Players are selected to participate in the Basketball Victoria High Performance Hubs following selection in the State Development Program or the Victorian National Performance Program.