PORTLAND’S Heidi Jones is a Portland sportswoman through and through, having been involved in sports such as basketball and netball from a young age right through to the present day.

Jones is now into her second year as a junior basketball coach, this season once again taking on the responsibility of mentoring the Portland Coasters under-14 girls’ side, a role which she says it has been a joy to take on.

“I love watching each player develop differently as an individual… I played a lot of basketball myself when I was younger so it’s good to see the girls going on the same journey as I went on,” Jones said.

“I played every season at the Coasters from under-12s through to under-18s… my brother still plays in the under-18s… it’s been a big part of my life growing up.”

Currently completing a Certificate III in Early Childhood Education, while also working and remaining actively involved in her own sporting commitments in both basketball and netball, Jones has a lot to fit into each week.

But nonetheless, she maintains that finding time to give back to a program which she got so much out of remains a priority for her.

“I definitely do have a lot on my plate, often I’m racing straight from work to basketball training or to play my own basketball games… there’s a level of commitment there,” she said.

“I played with the senior Coasters side last season (2021-22), but I gave that away this time around to focus more on the coaching.

“Between two trainings a week as a coach and two as a player, plus going away to the tournaments… it was a lot.”

Tournaments are a big part of the set-up in the junior Coasters program, as they give coaches a chance at an appraisal of how far their team has progressed over the course of a season.

But, as Jones points out, the tournaments are about more than just what happens on the court.

“I love going away with all the families… getting the chance to get to know them and the kids individually is one of the best parts about it,” she said.

“And yes, also seeing how the girls have developed and seeing them put their training into action in the game is fantastic.”

Clearly, while seeing the team improve as individual players and as a group is undoubtedly important, there’s a lot more to it from Jones’ perspective.

“We try to have a lot of fun at training, but at the same time I want the girls to be getting something out of it as well,” she said.

“It’s honestly a bit of relief when the training pays off, at that point I know that maybe they’ve actually listened to me!”

She added that the development the players get from a very young age is really important to how they’re going to progress later on, as good training early on can set them up for success.

“You can see the difference in understanding of the game and skill level between older players who have been playing since they were 10 and those who only started when they were 16 or 17,” she said.

“It goes to show that even though sometimes it might feel like stuff isn’t sinking in, there’s still a great deal of development that’s happening.

“I think Portland has done a really good job of ensuring that development happens… even if you’re not making the Coasters team in your age bracket there’s still the opportunity to be involved as a training partner or in the training squad.”

While her studies may end up taking her elsewhere in the future, Jones maintains that coaching junior basketball will always be something that she looks upon fondly going forward.

“I’m not sure if I’ll be around to coach again next year… but what I do know is that I love watching the kids play,” she said.

“Seeing their celebrations and them getting around each other… it’s a really rewarding experience.”

The team is continuing preparations for their next tournament in early March.