Trail blazing Winter embracing men's coaching challenge

If anyone was born and raised to break down barriers coaching men then it was Sharni Winter following in the family footsteps, but now as interim head coach of Goldfields Giants has made her realise she is actually capable of doing this.

With a mother who had her own impressive playing career in the SBL and WNBL, and then going on to coach where she was a two-time SBL Coach of the Year with Willetton, and has continued to coach in WABL and of state teams including winning multiple national championships, it was only natural for Sharni to follow Robyn.

Her father, Michael, has been heavily involved in coaching at Willetton and on state teams as well while her sister Hayley continues to play with the Tigers and was part of the 2021 championship team.

So to say that Winter was born into basketball would be right on the money and she feels like Willetton Basketball Stadium was her second home growing up, and it's given her the grounding to be doing what she is now.

Winter has now been in charge of the Goldfields Giants as interim head coach for the last four matches with Matt Van Pelt having to return home for personal reasons.

What it's done for the 28-year-old is prove that not only is she capable of coaching a men's team in her own right, but she is proud to be showing any other girl or young woman that there is nothing they are not capable of doing should they wish to pursue their goals and dreams.

"It's really cool because I think for me being an assistant coach with the men's program for the last few years has really opened my eyes to coaching," Winter said.

"I've coached juniors when I was in Perth and I coached WABL, and then when I moved out to Kalgoorlie I coached some of the young, local teams and then I was asked to coach the Division 1 men's team.

"I laughed for half an hour just thinking they wouldn’t want a female, but that's where it started and then Wayne Creek was head coach of the Giants at the time and we got along great. He asked me to come on board and since then I've been going on an upward trajectory, which has been nice.

"Then when Matt did unfortunately have to take off, I was given the opportunity and it's been amazing. I've absolutely loved being able to be the head coach and seeing a different side to coaching.

"I knew there was a lot more involved, but it's quite different and how much you have to deal with standing on the sidelines as the head coach," Winter added.

"There's so much to think about all at once and it's a whole different game, but because Kalgoorlie is so sports orientated, it's great for the young girls to see what's possible and that you don't just have to be a player.

"It is doable to be a coach and even on the men's side and then because I work in a school, kids come up saying they saw me coaching on the weekend so it's promoting good conversations in the community as well."

Wanting to now pursue coaching men

What Winter has already learned four games into her time as interim coach at the Giants is that not only is coaching men at this level something she would like to pursue longer term, but also that she is capable of doing it.

When you've never seen other women do it on a multiple game basis like this before, it's easy to have natural doubts, but Winter is now feeling more confident in her own abilities the longer she does it.

Now it completely depends on what is happening with Van Pelt's family situation on how long Winter continues in the role with the Giants this season, but what she does know is that she could see herself with a long career ahead coaching men wherever it might be.

"It's definitely opened my eyes to my ability to do it because I haven’t had the opportunity before so you never know what's going to happen," Winter said.

"And I kind of thought I would go back to the women's side eventually, but doing this with the men and I know I can do this. It is possible, the players respect me and I know my stuff.

"The club is going to support so if I choose to stay on should Matt not come back, then I'm confident in my ability which is great. I love coaching with the men, it's so different.

"Women and men are polar opposites on the court, the men are loud, aggressive, physical and it's just such a different environment to coaching women. I think having a teaching background is a little advantageous for me because I'm really explicit in my instructions.

"I make sure there's as little room for confusion as possible when I'm giving instructions which I think does help me. I find that the drills are smoother because I do give every little step on how I want them to work."

When did you decide to start coaching

Winter doesn’t necessarily think there was one moment where she decided she saw coaching in her future, but when she grew up with basketball such a big part of her life with both parents coaching at Willetton, it's hardly surprising.

She did envision herself still playing at this point of her life having played at Willetton and then with the Giants when she first moved to Kalgoorlie, but injuries meant that her days running up and down the court might have had to end earlier than she hoped.

That's proved a positive, though, in terms of giving her an early start to a coaching career.

"It wasn’t even really a decision because I watched my parents both coach for as long as I can remember at Willetton," Winter said.

"They coached high level state basketball, mum coached SBL and it was almost like I was just always going to eventually coach.

"I stepped into WABL at Willetton and loved it, and then when I moved out to Kalgoorlie it was the same sort of thing where I really enjoyed basketball, and unfortunately couldn’t keep playing after doing my ACL and then badly ruined my ankle in my second year in Kalgoorlie.

"People joke that if you can't do, you coach and that is sort of how I got into coaching earlier than I might have liked, but I just love the game and being involved. I love helping young kids develop into better players and that I am still involved and can help the community."

Challenges to deal with

While Winter has enjoyed working with the men's program at the Giants since moving to Kalgoorlie back in 2018 and has now felt nothing but supported since taking over in the head coaching role over the past three weeks, that doesn't mean there isn’t challenges.

She has never come across a player yet who has been openly disrespectful to her, but she has noticed at times it can take some of the men time to warm up to being coached by a woman – not through any deliberate discrimination, but because it's a first for them in their careers.

However, Winter has tried to just let her teaching background and basketball experience and knowledge do the talking, not let herself feel intimidated with men a foot or more taller than her towering over her, and she's happy with how it's been working.

"There was definitely challenges at the start and coming into any season there's always those thoughts about what if the new guys aren’t comfortable having a female coach," Winter said.

"I think the hardest part is when a new guy comes down and doesn’t know me or that I grew up basically in a basketball stadium. So I almost have to work twice as hard to prove to them that I do know what I'm talking about and that I have the skills and knowledge to back it up.

"I did have player tell me at the end of a season that it took him until about halfway through the season to actually realise that i knew what I was talking about.

"But that's also the reality as a female and because I'm still quite young as well, and that's another hurdle being young and that I'm a female where some guys have never been coached by a female or been involved in a team with females as assistant coaches let alone a head coach.

"The boys are super respectful, though, and we haven’t had anyone step out of line with me and all our other coaches, and the club as a whole have backed me fully. So if any player was to step out of line, when I confront the problem and try to sort it out, I know the club will back me.

"There has been some tougher conversations but I can't let myself be intimidated just because the players tower over me even if they aren’t trying to do it initially and I'm learning how to get the power balance back."

Prospect of going back to Willetton coaching

Given Winter grew up playing basketball at Willetton and that's where she started her coaching on the back of what both her parents did, walking back to Willetton Basketball Stadium as head coach next month should she still be in charge will be quite the experience.

That will make it sink in to Winter perhaps more than anything just how far she's come and she is tremendously proud to be showing to everyone that there is no reason in the world that women can't be coaching men's teams at any level.

"Stepping back into Willetton will be nice so I can show those people who have seen me grow up playing from under-12s and starting to coach WABL, and I've almost gone full circle and am now the head coach just at a different club," Winter said.

"It's quite surreal because I've had people reach out to say congratulations with how exciting it was, but I kind of didn’t realise within myself what a big deal it was. One of my friends asked if I had celebrated and I said no because I was just doing what needs to be done, and it was just coaching.

"But until other people pointed out that it's not common and it is quite new for the league in WA and within Australia where outside of Fleur (McIntyre), not many women have taken this step. Although I have noticed a few more female assistant coaches in the men's league this year which has been great."

Season for Giants so far

The Giants have now played eight games this season and while a 3-5 record doesn’t look great on paper, the reality is they have been significantly more competitive than that suggests.

Of the five losses Goldfields has suffered, it included strong performances against powerhouse teams Rockingham and Joondalup early on, then was a heartbreaking overtime loss away to Geraldton in Winter's first game in charge.

That was backed up with another heartbreaker the very next day away to the Perth Redbacks and then even this past Saturday night, the Giants had their chances before being overrun by the Mandurah Magic.

That 3-5 record could so easily be different, but what Winter will be emphasising is that they learn from some of the mistakes that have been proving costly.

"It's quite funny because we've been using a lot of analogies with our group like we're a graph going up and down, and going back up, and having all these bumps in the road with a lot of adversity," Winter said.

"There seems to be new adversity every week and we just keep facing it, and we stay together and we're like a family. Being a regional team, we spend so much time together because we have the ability to do that.

"We train three times a week, we do a shootaround on Saturday mornings and film on a Monday. We spend more time together than teams in Perth can and because of that we're like a family so we always stick together.

"These tough games that we're losing, it's like we come back and just think what can we do as a family to get better and make those adjustments. We have everything we need in place, we just have to keep pushing those little extra things and building good habits so we don't have those lapses that are costing us."

Remarkable debut game

It's fair to say that Winter will never forget the first game she coached as a head coach in the NBL1 West competition.

There's always added feeling when the Giants and Buccaneers do battle as regional powers, and Winter's Goldfields team looked on track to end the home winning run of the defending champion Buccs for a lot of that evening.

However, Aaron Ralph then made a miracle three-point shot that bounced up off the top of the backboard to fall back in that only he could hit to send the game to overtime, and in the end Winter's Giants fell short despite having some good looks at the buzzer.

"The Geraldton game was my debut game as a head coach and to go into overtime, and lose by two in Geraldton was just insane," Winter said.

"I remember looking at Lennon Smart our assistant coach and just realising the reality is we're competing with Geraldton right now.

"Then you watch the reply of that shot and you just can't believe that's reality and there's no way you can have a debut game as a coach as a female in the men's league like up against the championship team.

"For it to go into overtime with a shot off the top of the backboard and then to have two open shots in the last 10 seconds to try and win or tie the game to not go in, you just have to pat Geraldton on the back and say good job for outlasting us."