It’s a return home for new Altona Gators Big V men’s division 1 coach Andrea Berni.
Berni has been appointed the Gators coach Grant Duca, who stepped away from the role after one season in charge.
Berni was previously an assistant coach with the Gators youth league men’s side before heading to Keilor Thunder and Hawthorn in assistant coach roles.
Last season he was head coach of the RMIT Redbacks youth league 2 men’s side.
“He was able to resurrect a spiralling program and lead them to the finals in a massive season turnaround,” the Gators said. “Andrea will look to do the same for an Altona men’s program that struggled to find its form after winning the grand final in 2023 and reaching the finals in 2024.”
Berni said he was keen to return to Altona.
“It’s exciting,” he said. “I can’t wait. It’s a good opportunity for myself to come back to Altona. Ten years ago I coached juniors and youth league.
“It’s a big surprise, but it’s nice to be back home.”
Berni said he wanted to have the opportunity to prove himself in a head senior coaching role.
He said he always wanted to return to senior basketball.
“I have a lot of experience at a high level,” he said. “It was one of my goals in my career.
“The youth league is a pretty good environment for myself to grow and get better.
“It’s good for myself to come back to Altona and I want to do this for myself.”
Berni knows he has a challenge on his hands but is keen to share his knowledge from within the basketball community.
The Gators finished in ninth spot this year in division with just three wins for the season.
Berni said they want to be a strong team in division 1 and hopefully move up the divisions.
“I’ve received a lot of phone calls from players at other clubs in the league, NBL1 and state championship.
“We’ll have a few open runs in October. We’ll change some things and freshen the list up to improve.
“We’ll look to bring in a couple of experienced players from other leagues.”
One thing Berni was looking forward to seeing was the young talent coming through the ranks in the youth league side.
“There’s young talent and I coached against Altona in the youth league this year.
“I have a friendship with Jackie Gibson and she has some strong players who I hope will come through in the future.
“They’re working really hard and there’s bright future for the youth league and coming into men’s.”
