Personal information | |
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Born | Adelaide, South Australia | 2 November 1957
Jennifer Cheesman AM (born 2 November 1957) is an Australian former basketball player and coach. [1]
Cheesman played 167 games for the national team between 1975 and 1988, competing at two Olympic Games, in 1984 and 1988. [2] [3] Cheesman described making the 1984 Olympic Games as "a life-long dream come true... Since I was twelve years old my aim has been to play basketball at an Olympic Games". [4] At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, Cheesman and her husband, Phil Smyth, became the first husband and wife to captain Australian teams at the same Olympics. [5]
Cheesman also represented Australia at four World Championships, in 1975, 1979, 1983, and 1986. [6] [7] She was the captain of the team from 1980 until the end of her career and went on to be the Opals assistant coach from 1993 to 2000. While she was still playing at the highest level with the Opals, Cheesman was an assistant coach with the AIS program, taking over the head coach role for one year in 1990. [8] As a talented junior, Cheesman eventually had to choose between stellar basketball and netball careers. [9] Cheesman was an assistant coach with the Opals at 2000 Sydney Olympics. [10]
Cheesman won the Halls Medal for the best and fairest player in the South Australian state league on three occasions; 1974, 1977 and 1978. [11] In 1985, Cheesman was named the most valuable player of the Women's Basketball Conference playing for the Canberra Capitals. [12] She continued with the Capitals following their move to the Women's National Basketball League. [13]
In the 1989 Queen's Birthday Honours, Cheesman was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for her contribution to basketball. [14] She was awarded the Australian Sports Medal in 2000. [15]
In 2003, Basketball Australia introduced an annual Fair Play Award to all Australian Junior Championships. The Under 14 Girls Club Championship award for fair play was named the "Jenny Cheesman Fair Play Award", as recognition of her outstanding contribution to the game. [16] Although Cheesman was not involved in any international medal winning teams, she was described a very important figure in the development of Australian women's basketball. [17] Cheesman has been described as "a truly world-class basketball player". [18] Cheesman was inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004. [6] In 2006, Cheesman polled as the eighth greatest Australian female player in the 25-year team. [19]
Michele Margaret Timms is an Australian basketball coach and former player. She played five seasons for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2016.
Suzy Batkovic is an Australian professional basketball player and politician. Suzy played her junior basketball with the Port Hunter Basketball Club in Newcastle. She has played basketball for several European clubs including the French Valenciennes, the Spanish side Ros Casares, the Russian side UMMC Ekaterinburg, and Italian side Cras Basket. In the United States, she has played for the Seattle Storm after having been selected as a first round draft pick in 2003. She has played professional basketball domestically for the Australian Institute of Sport in 1996–1999, the Sydney Uni Flames from 1999–2001, and 2009–2010, the Townsville Fire in 2001–2002, the Canberra Capitals in 2010–2011, and the Adelaide Lightning in 2011–2013; she returned to the Fire for the 2013–14 season. She has been a member of the Australia women's national basketball team, being named to the team for the first time in 1999. She won a silver medal with the team at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
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The Australia women's national basketball team, nicknamed the Opals after the brightly coloured gemstone common to the country, represents Australia in international basketball. From 1994 onwards, the Opals have been consistently competitive and successful having won nine medals at official FIBA international tournaments, highlighted by a gold medal winning performance at the 2006 World Championship in Brazil. At the now-defunct regional Oceania Championship for Women, the Opals won 15 titles. In 2017, FIBA combined its Oceanian and Asian zones for official senior competitions; following this change, the Opals compete in the FIBA Women's Asia Cup.
Kristi Harrower is an Australian professional basketball coach and former player. She was a decorated player with the Australian Opals, winning three silver medals and one bronze medal at four Summer Olympics. She played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1998 to 2005 for the Phoenix Mercury and Minnesota Lynx.
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Jennifer Hazel (Jenny) Whittle is a retired Australian women's basketball player. Whittle was a regular member of the national team for over a decade, from 1994 until 2006. Playing Centre, Whittle was a key contributor to the Opals' success at international events during the 1990s and 2000s, with strong rebounding and defence a feature of her game. Following an outstanding national and WNBL career, Whittle was elected to the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.
Jennifer (Jennie) Screen is an Australian basketball player. She has played for the Australian Institute of Sport, the Adelaide Fellas and the Adelaide Lightning in Australia's WNBL, and has spent time playing professionally for Parma in Italy. As a member of the Australia women's national basketball team, she has won a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Abby Bishop is an Australian professional basketball forward/center who plays for Southside Flyers of the Australian WNBL. She has played for the Australian Institute of Sport from 2005 to 2006, the Canberra Capitals from 2006 to 2010, Dandenong Rangers from 2010 to 2011 Canberra Capitals. She is currently a member of the Adelaide Lightning (2016/2017). She is a member of the Australia women's national basketball team and won a gold medal during the 2007 Oceania World Qualifications series and a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
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