Community Spotlight Series: Jayson Newman – Leopold Lakers
GUB’s Community Spotlight Series aims to shine a light on our community clubs that make up the majority of our weekly competitions.
We’ll be checking in with all club presidents to find out not only about them, but also some club history and what’s happening behind the scenes.
Tell us a bit about yourself and how long you’ve been affiliated with the club?
I started coaching my daughters under 12 team over 4 years ago. Shortly after I got involved with our committee to support fundraising and grant applications, while I took over coaching my son’s teams in both GUB and BPBA competitions. At the same time I stepped into the president role and am now in my third year.
It’s been a busy couple of years, but no doubt a path trodden by many a parent / volunteer.
What area of Geelong does club the represent?
Majority of our players are exclusively from Leopold, but we have good numbers from surrounding suburbs like Newcomb, Clifton Springs and Drysdale.
How long has your club been operational for and what are some of the historical milestones for the club?
Leopold Lakers Basketball Club was first formed by the Corio Bay Basketball Association in 1994 as a founding club of that association.
What does the future hold for your club?
Having just celebrated 30 years, I would hope that continuing to grow our female athlete retention and engagement is in our control and future.
Seven years ago (just prior to Covid), we had very few girls playing basketball for Leopold. We’ve grown this, but there is still plenty of work to do!
At our latest club AGM we appointed a Girls Coordinator to focus on this aspect of our club.
