The Chambers Franklyn City of Joondalup Wolves are pleased to announce Jonelle Morley as Men’s and Women’s Lead Assistant Coach for the 2024 NBL1 West season!
Jonelle comes to the Wolves having spent the last three seasons as the Head Coach of the Warwick Senators NBL1 Women’s team, leading them to the NBL1-West and NBL1 National Championship in 2022. Jonelle has also been an Assistant Coach with the Perth Lynx in the WNBL, and had previous stints as an assistant coach with the Cockburn Cougars SBL Women’s team and the Kalamunda Suns Men’s SBL team.
Jonelle will serve as the Lead Assistant Coach for both the men’s and women’s teams in what is a unique approach to coaching at this level. This new appointment is a hybrid role that maximises the impact Jonelle can have across both programs. The role will see Jonelle split her time during the week with both teams and be on the bench for both teams each game night.
CEO Andrew Summerville had this to say on the appointment of Jonelle:
“We knew when we appointed Jesse as our Head Coach that we wanted to surround him with the right people on his coaching staff to make the transition for him as easy as possible. We targeted coaches with Head Coaching experience at the NBL1 level and higher. When Jonelle became available we started talking and it was obvious she wanted to keep coaching, had an interest in assisting Jesse but also in coaching men. From there it just made sense to have Jonelle involved in both programs. At the Wolves, we are always trying to do things differently, stay at the cutting edge and think outside the box, so the joint role fits what we are trying to do”
When asked about the importance of appointing female coaches to men’s teams Summerville said:
“Don’t get me wrong we are all for the support of female coaches. Our new Female Coach Scholarship Program is an important part of the pathway and we as a sport have a lot of work to do in that space. But forget male or female, Jonelle is a great coach. You don’t win National Championships unless you are an elite level coach. Yes it is great that she is a female and yes she will be a great role model to female coaches; but Jonelle will be a great role model to all coaches, not just female. We are not the first club to do this, plenty of teams around our league and the world have had female coaches working on men’s teams, so we certainly want to celebrate it and encourage others to do it, but it’s also important to normalise this because Jonelle was appointed because she can flat out coach and has earned the opportunity”
When asked about joining the Wolves, Jonelle said:
“I can’t wait to feel the energy of a full Wolves stadium in season 2024! David and Jesse are both passionate and experienced coaches and I am excited at the opportunity to work across both the women’s and the men’s program. We plan to continue the club’s long history of finals and success, and I have already seen that the Wolves have the drive, coaches, athletes and mindset to succeed in 2024. I am committed and determined to have an impact at the Wolves, both on and off the court and look forward to getting to work with some amazing athletes and people. Season 2024 is going to be fun, bring the noise, see you soon Wolfpack!”