Sunshine Coast Rip City have made their intention clear with the signing of new NBL1 North women’s head coach Christine Higgisson.

Rip City General Manager David Graham said the club looked to move in a new direction and time was of the essence.

“We want to give our new head coach every opportunity to start preparations for the 2024 NBL1 North season and that time starts now,” Graham said.

Our goal is to be highly competitive in NBL1 North finals basketball and we are very fortunate to have Christine who we believe will be able to lead the women’s program on the path to high performance and success.

Christine has done a tremendous job with our QSL program after her first season with the club and we look forward to working with her to put a highly competitive team on the floor next season.” Higgison said she was looking forward to recruiting for the new season.

“What’s not to love about the Sunshine Coast as a location to play basketball and the amazing support you receive from the club on and off the court,” Higgisson said.

“I’m looking forward to leading the Rip City NBL1 North team and reinvigorating the women’s program all the way through the juniors.”

“It will take a collective effort by the club to achieve its goals and I, for one, am confident success will breed success.”

Christine’s diverse background in sport development and coaching includes a representative career at the ACT and a five-year WNBL career with the Canberra Capitals.

As a coach, Christine has overseen representative programs in the ACT and NSW at both junior and senior levels, including Head Coach of the ACT Academy of Sport and assistant coach with the Canberra Capitals.

Professionally, Christine has extensive high performance experience managing Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence, Cricket ACT’s Meteors Women’s Program, Sunshine Coast Lightning Netball wellbeing manager, and is currently employed at Australian Institute of Sport as a Learning Pathways Consultant.