{"id":39641,"date":"2016-06-15T13:12:29","date_gmt":"2016-06-15T17:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=39641"},"modified":"2016-06-15T16:25:23","modified_gmt":"2016-06-15T20:25:23","slug":"new-coach-new-era-for-brock-university-womens-basketball-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2016\/06\/new-coach-new-era-for-brock-university-womens-basketball-program\/","title":{"rendered":"New coach, new era for Brock University women\u2019s basketball program"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good basketball players, good community ambassadors. Those are the kind of young women Ashley MacSporran wants on her team.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Brock Badgers ushered in a new era Wednesday morning when MacSporran was introduced as the next head coach of the Badgers women\u2019s basketball team.<\/span><\/p>\n

Landing a head coaching position in an Ontario University Athletics program has long been the goal for the Kitchener\/Waterloo-born MacSporran, but it was Brock\u2019s success both on the court and in the stands that drew her to the St. Catharines university.<\/span><\/p>\n

She said she first noticed the Badgers fans and the #WeAreReady campaign during a playoff game in Ottawa.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrock was playing just after us and in rolls these waves of fans. It was awesome. You just don\u2019t see student-based fans in Canada like that, but it\u2019s happening at Brock. I can\u2019t wait to be part of that,\u201d she said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

MacSporran played her university basketball at Laurentian before a knee injury ended her career. She moved into coaching, getting initial experience in B.C. before serving as head coach of the Concordia University College women\u2019s team in Edmonton. She joined the Guelph Gryphons as assistant coach for two years and then moved to the University of Windsor as an assistant last season.<\/span><\/p>\n

She said her experience as a player helps her connect with the team.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI understand where the players are coming from. I can relate to them,\u201d said MacSporran, who describes her coaching style as enthusiastic and positive. \u201cI\u2019ve found it easier to make calls and get the players to trust me a little bit better because I\u2019ve been there and been through those experiences.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She said that while Brock\u2019s past success is something she\u2019ll strive for, she sees this as a new beginning for the Badgers women\u2019s team.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a fresh start. How we represent ourselves in the community, it\u2019s going to be all fresh and brand new,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve got some great ideas to jump along with what Brock is already doing. The more you get these young women out in the community and get them involved, it just helps them excel and grow later in life. It\u2019s not all about basketball.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Neil Lumsden, Director of Athletics and Recreation, said he\u2019s looking forward to seeing the direction MacSporran takes the team.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the keys is she has worked with some of the best coaches and programs in the country and therefore has learned what it takes to lead a solid, competitive and sustainable program,\u201d Lumsden said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBased on her extensive plan that has to do with engaging our students, reaching out to alumni, and maintaining a focus on Brock University, she has basically encompassed all the elements that are required to build a championship program both on and off the court.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Ashley

Brock University women’s basketball coach Ashley MacSporran.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good basketball players, good community ambassadors. Those are the kind of young women Ashley MacSporran wants on her team. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":39642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3319,4052,1,4,58],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39641"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39641"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39657,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39641\/revisions\/39657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}