Fire championship winner to lead Tassie Jewels

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Former Townsville Fire championship coach Claudia Brassard has been named the inaugural head coach of the Tasmania Jewels as preparations for the expansion club's first season in the WNBL heats up.

Brassard, a former import for the Fire who then coached them to the 2018 championship, steps into the role after returning to the sidelines as the Townsville Flames coach in the 2025 NBL1 North season.

The Canadian coached the Fire from 2016-2019, following on from Chris Lucas who took the team to back-to-back titles with Brassard as an assistant before she led the club to its third title in four seasons. She was succeeded by Shannon Seebohm for the 2019-20 season.

Brassard said it was a privilege to be selected as the Tasmania Jewels inaugural head coach and she was excited to move to Tasmania to start the role in April.

“Tasmania has such a rich basketball history, and I’m so proud to be a part of this next chapter as the first coach of the Tasmania Jewels and to continue to Defend the Island,” Brassard said.“I’m excited be a part of creating a team that Tasmanians can see themselves in; disciplined, hard-working and proud, with high standards in how we train, how we compete and how we represent the state," she said in the club's release.

“I already have a strong sense of belonging, a sense of community and a strong belief in this team, and that’s going to be the same drawcard that attracts exceptional players to the Jewels too.”

Jewels and JackJumpers Executive Chair Steve Old said the appointment was the start of a new era for Tasmanian basketball.

“There’s so much excitement to see the Tasmania Jewels join the JackJumpers on the national stage, and the appointment of the coach is the first giant leap toward the team taking shape," he said in the release.

“We searched far and wide for the right coach, someone who shares our values and vision to create a team for every Tasmanian, and we’ve found that in spades in Claudia.”

Jewels Assistant General Manager of WNBL Kayla Steindl said Brassard was the perfect fit for the Jewels.

“Claudia is an exceptional coach, basketballer, and community leader with a proven record on and off court success,” Steindl said.

“This appointment is a major milestone for the Jewels – first, it’s the coach, next players, then high-performance team and before you know it, the Jewels will be playing in front of their home crowd.

“It gives you goosebumps just thinking about that moment when little girls across Tasmania will be able to look to the court and think ‘I can do that too’, it’s going to change the game in so many ways.”

Brassard is believed to have won the position of coach of the Jewels, who are run and owned by the Tasmanian JackJumpers, over several other quality candidates, including Tom Garlepp, Cheryl Chambers, Guy Molloy and former Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence coach David Herbert.

It is also believed former Australian Opal and WNBA guard Tully Bevilacqua was also a name thrown up during the coaching search.

The appointment leaves only the Geelong Venom without a head coach following Lucas' decision to step down after two seasons.