She’s an all-time great of the British game, having had incredible success across the world of basketball, but now London 2012 Olympian Chantelle Handy has her sights set on giving back to the WBBL and the Caledonia Gladiators as she gears up to take on the role of Player-Assistant Coach for the new-look Scottish side.
After an incredibly successful season last year that saw her compete in the EuroLeague Women for Latvia’s TTT Riga, Handy has returned to the UK to take her first professional coaching role with the Gladiators, and we sat down with the GB legend to find out more about her new challenge.
“I knew last season was probably going to be my last in Europe, because my mind was shifting towards coaching and wanting to take that next step, so when this opportunity came around and I had the opportunity to learn from Miguel (Angel Ortego Marco, Head Coach), I would have been stupid to turn it down.
“It kind of just landed in my lap if I’m honest. I went for the Head Coach position initially, but when they chose to go with Miguel we had further conversations and I was asked to come on board as an assistant and to bring my experience as a player, so this is a nice way for me to transition into coaching and I’ve really enjoyed working with Miguel, learning so much from this opportunity.
“I knew that I wanted to come back to the UK to coach first after Europe, so the goal was always to find a role in the WBBL at some stage in my career. I never would have been a player and head coach, but being an assistant I know I can do both as we do all our prep together in the week and then when its game day I do what I do as a player, so it is good and really exciting.”
“We know what we’re trying to build.”
With new ownership and wholesale changes across the board as what was the Caledonia Pride now becomes the Caledonia Gladiators – with the Men’s team formerly known as Glasgow Rocks falling under the same banner – it is all change for professional basketball in Scotland, but the future certainly seems very exciting.
Handy discussed the vision the club has for the future of the programme and why she has been encouraged by the early steps taken by the Gladiators to move the women’s team in a positive direction.
“I definitely think what we’ve done over the summer and the work that’s been put in has changed the narrative and made people think this is a team that can compete at the top end of the WBBL as well as continuing to do a great job in promoting Scottish Basketball.
“Obviously there are new owners and so on, but the people involved in this project before that and the Lady Rocks have always had a vision of what they’ve wanted for the game in Scotland, so this has been the baby of a lot of people for a long time.
“The long-term goal is to have a fully professional women’s team up here, and we know that is going to take a lot of time and work to get there, but we’re going about things the right way. We’ve recruited well, we’ve brought in good people, and we know what we’re trying to build. We just have to keep pushing it forward.”
“We can only get better as the season goes on.”
With such strong recruitment across the board and real positive momentum behind this franchise at the moment, although a ball hasn’t been bounced in anger yet on a WBBL court it does seem that things are looking very positive for the future of the Gladiators, and Handy discussed what she thinks the expectations will be for the team as the new season gets underway in just over a week.
“To bring in a calibre of coach like Miguel shows exactly how ambitious this club is. Our aim is to be contending for success in the future, and we know it takes time but we’re putting the right things in place.
“It has been great throughout preseason so far, I have to say, and I thought I would struggle to do both roles – I’m sure there’ll be times when I do in the future, as well – but so far I have really enjoyed it and found the balance working quite well for me. Maybe I’ll say differently in a month!
“It is our first year, we are building, and whilst I don’t have any particular expectations in terms of winning this many games or reaching this many finals or anything like that, I expect us to be a top-end team with who we’ve recruited and what we’ve put in place. They’re high expectations and we know we have to build things, but we can only get better as the season goes on and we’re excited.”
The Gladiators open the 2022/23 season as they welcome the Newcastle Eagles to Scotland on the 23rd of September in the first game of the new campaign. You can watch the action live and free on the WBBL YouTube channel.