Head Coach of the Caledonia Gladiators, Miguel Ángel Ortega Marco, has won the Molten Betty Codona WBBL Coach of the Year for 2022-23 – following a vote among WBBL club captains and coaches – after leading the Gladiators to their highest ever WBBL Championship finish of second place.
The 60-year-old Spaniard joined the Gladiators in the summer with incredible experience from his homeland, most recently with Duran Maquinaria Ensino Lugo for two years and Perfumerias Avenida Salamanca for four years, having led the latter to numerous Liga Femenina Endesa titles. In all, he came to the WBBL with 3 Spanish League, 4 Spanish Cup and 3 Spanish Super Cup titles, in addition to 1 Galicia ACB Cup and a European Gold Medal with the Spanish u20 national team.
With that reputation he compiled a formidable roster at Caledonia, combining the best domestic talent – such as Scottish Great Britain internationals Erin McGarrachan and Robyn Lewis (GB u20) alongside London 2012 Olympian Chantelle Handy and fellow international Jamila Thompson – with a sparkling array of overseas stars such as Swede Patricia Elias and American duo Téa Adams and Abbie Wolf.
Coach Ortega Marco built the success of his team on a defensive foundation, with Gladiators the league’s number two defence and outlasting opponents to finish second in the league despite only being the number six offence, and that proved to be particularly key in a run of decisive wins down the stretch.
That highest ever ranking came courtesy of a strong finish to the campaign as they went 8-2 over their last 10 games – leading to Coach Ortega Marco picking up the Molten WBBL Coach of the Month award for April – including a run of three straight wins against fellow top four rivals as they beat B. Braun Sheffield Hatters, Leicester Riders and Sevenoaks Suns in the space of seven days, before opening the WBBL Play-offs with victory over Cardiff Met Archers at the Emirates Arena.
Perhaps the individual highlight of the campaign came in February, when Caledonia toppled the all-conquering London Lions 68-67 at the Copper Box Arena – the first team to beat them in more than 50 games, and only side to do so this season. On that day Gladiators were fast out of the blocks with a 21-3 surge to open the contest, and held Lions to a season-low in points on just 34% shooting from the field.
In the WBBL’s ninth year, Coach Ortega Marco follows in the footsteps of Len Busch, his rival at Sevenoaks, who is a four-time Coach of the Year winner, with Mark Clark (London Lions), Dave Greenaway (Nottingham Wildcats) and Vanessa Ellis (Sheffield Hatters) all having one award each.
A full record of votes can be found below:
| Miguel Angel Ortega Marco (Caledonia Coach) | Noelia Cachiero |
| Erin McGarrachan (Caledonia Captain) | Stella Kaltsidou |
| Stef Collins (Cardiff Coach) | Miguel Angel Ortega Marco |
| Shannon Hatch (Cardiff Captain) | Miguel Angel Ortega Marco |
| Lee Davie (Durham Coach) | Stella Kaltsidou |
| Elle Hendershot (Durham Captain) | Krumesh Patel |
| Ross Norfolk (Essex Coach) | Miguel Angel Ortega Marco |
| Andrea Kohlhaas (Essex Captain) | Miguel Angel Ortega Marco |
| Krumesh Patel (Leicester Coach) | Len Busch |
| Ashley Arlen (Leicester Captain) | Miguel Angel Ortega Marco |
| Stella Kaltsidou (London Coach) | Krumesh Patel |
| Shanice Beckford-Norton (London Captain) | Miguel Angel Ortega Marco |
| Marg Jones (Manchester Coach) | Krumesh Patel |
| Leah McDerment (Manchester Captain) | Miguel Angel Ortega Marco |
| Noelia Cacheiro (Newcastle Coach) | Tom Sadler |
| Marina Fernandez (Newcastle Captain) | Krumesh Patel |
| Kenrick Liburd (Nottingham Coach) | Krumesh Patel |
| Brae Ashton (Nottingham Captain) | Miguel Angel Ortega Marco |
| Tor Freeman (Oaklands Coach) | Lee Davie |
| Cassidy Gould (Oaklands Captain) | Krumesh Patel |
| Len Busch (Sevenoaks Coach) | Miguel Angel Ortega Marco |
| Renee Busch (Sevenoaks Captain) | Miguel Angel Ortega Marco |
| Vanessa Ellis (Sheffield Coach) | Stef Collins |
| Helen Naylor (Sheffield Captain) | Miguel Angel Ortega Marco |