BASKETBALL
By BLAKE METCALF-HOLT
MIRBOO NORTH’S Belinda Snell was inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame last month.
The induction followed an outstanding and decorated professional career both in her homeland and overseas.
Snell spent 20 years between the WNBL, WNBA, various European leagues and was a frequent member of the Australian women’s national team (commonly known as the Opals) at the Olympic Games and other international tournaments.
The inductees were enshrined at a function in inner Melbourne before later being celebrated at John Cain Arena pregame before the Opals pre-Olympic match against China.
“I’m very honoured to be in the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame with such elite, tremendous athletes from the basketball world,” Snell told the Express.
To accompany her individual acknowledgment, the Opals 2006 FIBA World Cup championship side became the first team to be inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame, which alongside Snell featured such icons as Lauren Jackson, Penny Taylor, Kristi Harrower and future AFLW champion, Erin Phillips. The 2006 World Cup is Australian basketball’s highest ever achievement.
Most 2006 members were on the court that night to embrace and be lauded by the fanatical Melbourne crowd.
“Catching up with a majority of my teammates from 2006 from the World Championships, it’s so long ago now, but it was great to catch up with all of them and go about all the fun stories with them and winning the gold (medal),” Snell said.
Snell recalled a fork in the road moment during their famous run, in the Opals semi-final match against Brazil in which she engaged heatedly with long-time teammate and friend, Lauren Jackson.
“In front of at least 15,000 people and we were down going into the second half and I think in the third quarter I remember Lauren telling me ‘shoot the damn ball!’ or something along those lines, you know, heat of the moment and I managed to knock down a few important shots in that semi-final and get the team into the gold medal game and go on to win,” she said.
“(It) was obviously very exciting and it’s still such an honour to win the first senior gold medal.”
Snell attended the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) from the ages of 17 to 19, winning a WNBL championship in 1999 with her fellow class members Jackson, Taylor and Suzy Batkovic (who was a fellow honouree on the night).
Snell then moved to the Sydney Panthers (later known as Sydney Uni Flames) and cemented herself as one of the best players in the country, named in the WNBL All-Star Five team in 2001, 2004 and 2005. It was the only place Snell felt it necessary to finish her career.
“(I) played over 10 seasons with the Flames, Sydney I call it my second home, I obviously spent a lot of time up there, I’ve got some great friends out of the Sydney shire area down south who I stay in contact with regularly and I love watching the Flames play as well,” she said.
On January 22, 2005, Snell broke the WNBL single game scoring record by posting 54 points in a blowout win against the Perth Lynx in which she also tacked on nine rebounds, nine steals and seven assists. The record still stands to this day.
After a quality performance for the Opals in the 2004 Athens Olympics, Snell would be picked up by the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and after three years would win the 2007 WNBA championship with them.
“Very fond memories over there, the facilities, just playing in huge stadiums week-in, week-out… (I) feel very lucky to have been able to get over to America and play in the best league in the world,” she said.
At the time, the WNBA and other women’s basketball leagues occupied a much smaller season as opposed to the likes of the NBA or the NBL, Snell managed her years in between the States and Europe.
Snell played for teams in France, Russia, Spain and Poland while also returning to the WNBA for multiple seasons at the San Antonio Silver Stars and finally with the Seattle Storm. She would win a total of five European trophies including the EuroLeague title in 2011 with the Spanish Avenida.
Snell played in three Olympics (Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012), medalling in all (two silvers and a bronze).
She is perhaps best remembered for a ridiculous clutch moment at the London games.
With Australia looking like they were headed for certain defeat, she famously hit a miraculous three-pointer from beyond halfway in the preliminary match against France to force the game into overtime. The ball was literally in mid-air as the final siren blew.
Snell is looking forward to this year’s Olympic Games and checking out what all three Australian basketball sides do – the Opals, Boomers and Gangurrus (3-on-3 basketball).
She’ll also be keeping an eye out for Jackson, who returns to the Olympic play for the first time since 2012 in London.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing Lauren out there at the upcoming Paris Olympics and see how well she’ll do there and also our up-and-coming Traralgon girl, Gippsland girl Jade Melbourne, very excited for her, looking forward to her representing Australia,” Snell said.
Regionally, Snell was recently announced as Gippsland United’s Youth League Women’s coach for 2025 as the local representative basketball club pushes to eventually return a senior women’s team to the Big V court.
“I’m looking forward to working with the young girls around Gippsland in the upcoming months, the season’s not until next year but I’ll be getting around to some stadiums in the coming months and checking out the local talent and hopefully we can put together a strong team on the court for next season and look to build up the women’s program later on down the track potentially,” she said.
Snell has had coaching experience in her final years in the WNBL with the Sydney Uni Flames and as head coach of the NBL1 Ballarat Blues as late as 2022.
Snell grew up in Mirboo North, and played for the Latrobe Valley representative side (a previous incarnation of Gippsland United) before making her way in professional ranks.
