Bendigo Spirit

The Bendigo Spirit are an Australian professional basketball team based in Bendigo, Victoria. The Spirit play in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at Red Energy Arena. The team debuted in the WNBL in 2007.

Bendigo Spirit
Leagues	WNBL
Founded	2007
History	Bendigo Spirit 2007–present
Arena	Red Energy Arena
Capacity	4,000+
Location	Bendigo, Victoria
Team colors	Dodger blue, yellow
Main sponsor	TAC
General manager	Daniel Jackson
Head coach	Kennedy Kereama
Ownership	Sports Entertainment Group
Championships	3 (2013, 2014, 2025)
Website	wnbl.basketball/bendigo

History

The Bendigo Spirit were formed in 2007 and debuted in the Women's National Basketball League in the 2007–08 season.^[1] The inaugural team was coached by Bernie Harrower and was led by his daughter, Kristi Harrower.

The Spirit played in three straight WNBL Grand Finals between 2013 and 2015, winning back-to-back WNBL championships in 2012–13 and 2013–14.^[2] At the time, the team was led by Harrower, Gabrielle Richards, Kelly Wilson as well as imports Chelsea Aubry and the now naturalised, Kelsey Griffin.

The Spirit missed the playoffs every year between 2015–16 and 2023–24. In 2024–25, the Spirit returned to the playoffs and made the WNBL Grand Final behind league MVP, Sami Whitcomb.^[3] The Spirit went on to defeat the Townsville Fire 2–0 in the grand final series to win their third WNBL championship.^[4][5]

Season-by-season records

Season	Standings	Regular season			Finals	Head coach
		W	L	PCT
Bendigo Spirit
2007–08	7th	10	14	41.6	Did not qualify	Bernie Harrower
2008–09	5th	14	8	63.6	Lost Elimination Final (Adelaide, 73–81)	Bernie Harrower
2009–10	5th	13	9	59.1	Lost Elimination Final (Townsville, 73–84)	Bernie Harrower
2010–11	3rd	15	7	68.2	Won Semi Final (Logan, 74–53) Lost Preliminary Final (Canberra, 78–83)	Bernie Harrower
2011–12	6th	12	10	54.5	Did not qualify	Bernie Harrower
2012–13	1st	21	3	87.5	Won Semi Final (Dandenong, 78–71) Won Grand Final (Townsville, 71–57)	Bernie Harrower
2013–14	1st	22	2	91.6	Won Semi Final (Dandenong, 71–62) Won Grand Final (Townsville, 94–83)	Bernie Harrower
2014–15	2nd	15	7	68.2	Lost Semi Final (Townsville, 63–82) Won Preliminary Final (Sydney, 85–77) Lost Grand Final (Townsville, 65–75)	Bernie Harrower
2015–16	6th	12	12	50.0	Did not qualify	Simon Pritchard
2016–17	6th	13	11	54.1	Did not qualify	Simon Pritchard
2017–18	8th	4	17	19.1	Did not qualify	Simon Pritchard
2018–19	7th	7	14	33.3	Did not qualify	Simon Pritchard
2019–20	7th	5	16	23.8	Did not qualify	Tracy York
2020	8th	0	13	0.0	Did not qualify	Tracy York
2021–22	5th	7	9	43.7	Did not qualify	Tracy York
2022–23	5th	11	10	52.3	Did not qualify	Tracy York
2023–24	6th	11	10	52.3	Did not qualify	Kennedy Kereama
Regular season		192	172	53.0	2 Minor Premierships
Finals		6	5	54.5	2 WNBL Championships

Source: Bendigo Spirit Archived 22 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine

Players

Current roster

Bendigo Spirit roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. F/C 0 Hannan, Ashlee 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 24 – (2001-03-21)21 March 2001 F 3 Bird, Opal 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) 19 – (2006-03-03)3 March 2006 G 5 Simpson, Micah 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) 22 – (2002-12-02)2 December 2002 G 6 Burton, Veronica (I) 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) 24 – (2000-07-12)12 July 2000 F 10 Nightingale, Asha (DP) 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) 19 – (2006-03-20)20 March 2006 C 12 Tolo, Marianna 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 35 – (1989-07-02)2 July 1989 G 13 Wehrung, Abigail 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 29 – (1995-12-28)28 December 1995 G 14 Booth, Georgia (DP) 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) 22 – (2003-01-17)17 January 2003 G 16 Samuels, Casey 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 30 – (1994-08-02)2 August 1994 G 22 Wilson, Kelly 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) 41 – (1984-01-01)1 January 1984 F 23 Griffin, Kelsey 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 37 – (1987-07-02)2 July 1987 G 32 Whitcomb, Sami 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 36 – (1988-07-20)20 July 1988	Head coach Kennedy Kereama Assistant coach(es) John White Deanna Smith Zoe Carr Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Development player (I) Import player Injured Roster Updated: 2 November 2024

Former players

• Kathleen MacLeod, (2007–08)
• Jenna O'Hea, (2007–08)
• Kristi Harrower, (2008–2015)
• Chelsea Aubry, (2009–2015)
• Heather Oliver, (2010–2018)
• / Kelsey Griffin, (2012–2018)
• Sara Blicavs, (2013–2015)
• Belinda Snell, (2014–2016)
• Betnijah Laney, (2017–18)
• Jennie Rintala
• Carley Ernst
• Chevannah Paalvast
• Alicia Froling
• Amelia Todhunter

Coaches and staff

Head coaches

Bendigo Spirit head coaches
Name	Start	End	Seasons	Regular season				Finals
				W	L	PCT	G	W	L	PCT	G
Bernie Harrower	2007	2015	8	121	61	66.4	182	6	5	54.5	11
Simon Pritchard	2015	2018	4	36	54	40.0	90	0	0	0.0	0
Tracy York	2019	2022	3	5	16	23.8	0	0	0	0.0	0
Kennedy Kereama	2022		1	7	0	100	0	0	0	0.0	0

Ownership

In April 2022, the team's WNBL license was purchased from Bendigo Stadium Limited (BSL) by Sports Entertainment Group.^[6][7]