We head out to speak to Dr.Bridie O'Donnell from Change Our Game about the work her department is doing and what more can be done to encourage female participation in the coaching landscape.

Talking Split then talks to a special panel of guests - Dr.Julia Walsh (Deakin University), Megan Moody (BVC & Bendigo) and Zoe Carr (Knox Raiders), about their experiences in coaching and the pathways they've taken to get to this stage in their coaching.

Fresh off some social media posts with "player development" concepts, the team go over their thoughts on what player development looks like for our junior athletes, and what training sessions should be made up of. Mike sends out a call to arms for junior competitions, and we congratulate our former co-host Justin on his appointment with the U15 Australian Men. We are on a break for school holidays, and there might be some big changes when we return...

We are back and have the privilege of being joined by Australian basketball royalty - Australian Opal, WNBL and WNBA star Michele Timms jumps in to talk about her extensive playing career around the world, and also her coaching pathway in China and now back in Australia. 

Michele also had the unenviable task of being the landlord of a former co-host of the show, what are the chances of some late payments being made?

We've doubled down this week and after looking at the Perfect Athlete last week... we set our sights on at what traits would make the Perfect Coach for athletes, with a few real world examples along the way. There are a lot of things all coaches can work on in their own time that can help themselves and their athletes in the future.

You read that title and immediately think of the Talking Split crew (or half of it anyway), but we are talking about what are the most important traits for our athletes to have if they're going to succeed as a High Performance athlete. 

For each of the traits we give a NBL and WNBL player comparison that we feel best exhibits that trait. (Hint: Schueller didn't make the cut with the shooting trait comparison...)

With Justin now on other duties, the team has reached out to the academic field and recruited Dr. Adam Gorman! In this episode, the Talking Split team and Dr. Gorman will talk about skill acquisition in junior athletes and what coaches can do to help develop athletes and improve their skill bases and decision-making skills.

It’s Justin’s goodbye episode and we delve into the Mailbag – with a massive thank you to all the coaches that sent in some great questions for this week. 

We also have a very special goodbye message from a favourite of the show, and test Justin's knowledge of BV staff…

The news that shook the basketballing world dropped this week, with Justin announcing the worlds worst kept secret – that he’s off to Melbourne United as their new Assistant Coach. Whilst we wish Justin well, but do have to ask the question, where can we get someone that shows the same level of commitment and professionalism to the podcast as him? Not talking into the mic and leaning back in the chair can't be done by just anyone!

It's that time of the year, where coaches start applying for positions, and this week we discuss coaching job interviews, and resources to help with your coaching development.

The Talking Split team recap Justin’s Green & Gold experience in Argentina, the Navy Blue and white performances at U16 Nationals, the Orange & Blue of the U12 Showcase, whilst Rob & Mike venture out to Dr.Grant Blashki from Beyond Blue to talk about mental health, and some of the tools available to coaches to help the athletes, and also themselves. 

If you or anyone you know needs any help or support with their mental health, you can contact Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.