Bendigo Spirit
Basketball team in Bendigo, Victoria
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 | 2800 |
| Location | Bendigo, Victoria |
| Team colors | Blue, yellow, white |
| 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]
In July 2025, the Spirit unveiled a new logo with a rebranded colour scheme and identity.[6]
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 |
| 2024-25 | 1st | 18 | 3 | 85.7 | Won Semi Final (Sydney, 76-67, 91-74)
Won Grand Final (Townsville, 70-60, 63-55) |
Kennedy Kereama |
| Regular season | 210 | 172 | 52.7 | 3 Minor Premierships | ||
| Finals | 6 | 5 | 54.5 | 3 WNBL Championships | ||
Source: Bendigo Spirit Archived 22 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine
Players
Current roster
| Bendigo Spirit roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Updated: 26 October 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.[7][8]
