RELATED COVERAGE: Snells like team Spirit
TRARALGON’S own Chelsea D’Angelo will get her first taste of the Women’s National Basketball League this weekend.
The Victoria Country and Latrobe City Energy representative recently made the cut for the Bendigo Spirit development squad, and will see the senior team’s inner sanctum when they play Dandenong Rangers in Traralgon on Sunday.
The pre-season match will see D’Angelo and Southern Peninsula’s Abbey Noblett join the squad in the change rooms and on the Spirit bench as part of the club’s development pathway.
While D’Angelo won’t play a role on the court, Spirit coach Simon Pritchard said Sunday would be a chance for the young star to dip her toes into the elite level.
“The two of them will sit on our bench and come into the changerooms… they’ll be sitting on the side learning and watching and perhaps trying to develop an appetite for WNBL basketball,” Pritchard said.
“They can see behind the scenes and what it’s like for them, so when it comes their time they’re not going to be too freaked out or scared, it’s going to be an environment they’re reasonably comfortable with.”
Both girls will continue their Spirit journey during the Christmas school holidays when Bendigo brings together all of its development players from across regional Victoria.
D’Angelo had a breakout season in the BigV division one senior side, underscored by a 28-point, 11-rebound and seven-assist performance against Hawthorn in June.
