Season 22-23 Wrap Up – A Message From the Chair

Dear Members, Partners, and Supporters,

As the year comes to an end, we would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude to all of you for your unwavering support and dedication to our club, the Deakin Melbourne Boomers.

As a purpose-driven organisation, our mission is to make a difference for women through basketball, and this year, we have accomplished a great deal thanks to the collective efforts of our team, our staff and all our supporters.

We had many tangible achievements to celebrate this year, including an average crowd of 2,500 at home games at The Boom Box (including two sell-outs), membership growth, our sixth successive WNBL finals series, 15 regular season wins, Cayla George being awarded the WNBL MVP, and Tiffany Mitchell becoming the WNBL leading scorer. Additionally, Cayla was joined by Kristy Wallace in the WNBL First Team, while Tiffany earned a Second Team selection.

We also have great memories from this season, including the Sidelined documentary series premiere, Women’s World Cup in Sydney, the arrival of Pearl for new parents Cayla and Kailu, our championship banner being presented at our home opener, the Come Train with Us program, Mia Murray being joined by Sid at Mia’s last home game, our home semi-final, meeting the fans post-game, and a Smoking Ceremony with Aunty Di.

None of these achievements would have been possible without the dedication and hard work of our team and supporters. Therefore, I would like to take a moment to recognise and thank the following individuals:

Our partners – loyal, supportive, and committed; we appreciate your continued support.

Deakin University will celebrate 10 years this coming season as our Major Partner and your support is amazing.

Our volunteers and Deakin interns thank you for your hard work and dedication.

Our members, partners, and families of our staff and athletes, your support and loyalty are greatly appreciated.

Our front office and basketball operations teams – we are grateful for your hard work and commitment.

Our high-performance team thank you for your dedication to our athletes.

Our development and training players – Sophie Burrows, Paige Burrows, Lily Carmody, Lauryn Hippolite and Bella Niven-Brown your commitment and hard work is greatly appreciated.

Our coaching team – Chris Lucas and Kristi Harrower thank you for your dedication, hard work, and belief in our team. We are excited for the season ahead.

Lastly, a big thank you to our team of elite senior athletes – Penina Davidson, Rachel Brewster, Olivia Nelson-Ododa, Tiffany Mitchell, Kristy Wallace, Lily Scanlon, Lou Brown, Tess Madgen, Mia Murray, Cayla George, Leilani Mitchell, Taylor Ortlepp, Miela Goodchild, your hard work and dedication are inspiring, and we were proud to have you as part of the Deakin Melbourne Boomers family.

Thank you all for your support.

As we wrap up season 2022-23, we now shift our focus to the year ahead. There are plenty of exciting developments which we will inform you of as we build our playing roster and head into the 2023-24 Cygnett WNBL Season in November.

And before I leave you, there is one final piece of exciting news. We’ve been named a finalist in the Victorian Sports Awards. Our 2021-22 Championship winning team has been recognised as one of four finalists in the Team of the Year category. This award recognises a Victorian team who has achieved outstanding results in respect to their performances at a state, national and/or international level during the 2022 calendar year. We are alongside some legendary teams, including the Melbourne Footy Club, so it’s humbling just to be recognised, but we would love to be reporting back with some more good news when the winner is announced in June. Stay tuned.

Thanks,

Tony Hallam,
Executive Chair – Deakin Melbourne Boomers