Keely Froling could barely contain her excitement as she stepped onto the court for the franchise’s first official day of training at the Tasmania Jewels’ new high-performance centre in Kingston yesterday.
Froling, 30, is one of the most experienced players in the league, having become just the 99th player in WNBL history to reach 200 games last season.
“I was really excited this week, probably the most excited I’ve been through a WNBL season in a long time because we’ve been waiting for this for a really long time,” Froling said.
The two-time WNBL champion and two-time Opals bronze medallist has seen plenty of facilities during her career but said Kingston’s centre is something else.
“It’s unbelievable. I don’t think there’s words that we can use to describe this place,” she said.
Froling, who coaches young players in Launceston, said giving Tasmanian girls a team to watch at the top level is what drives her most.
Shooting guard Brooke Basham was equally enthusiastic after relocating from South Australia more than a week ago.
“I love Hobart so far. I’ve been doing lots of exploring. Good coffee, so I’m happy,” she said.
Basham said she was drawn to Tasmania after following the JackJumpers in the NBL and wanted to be part of something similar.
“I loved how the JackJumpers play. I just thought it was really enticing, a new opportunity,” she said.
Head coach Claudia Brassard said her staff felt like children on Christmas Eve the night before training began.
She said there would be no easing into the program, given the squad has no prior seasons to build from.
“I think for us, there’s a lot of teaching, there’s a lot of learning,” she said.
“We don’t have a base to build from prior seasons.”
Brassard said she expects the Jewels to field one of the bigger teams in the competition and wants to use that size to their advantage.
The Jewels open their inaugural season against the Geelong Venom on October 15 at MyState Bank Arena in Hobart.
The team will play their first Launceston Silverdome fixture against Sydney on October 31.
