Maitland Mustangs announce new women's coach and captain

Wawszkowicz, who previously coached the Mustangs senior women's program, replaces inaugural NBL1 coach Aussie Opal Leilani Mitchell.

"I'm very excited to take on the challenge of coaching the Mustangs NBL1 Women in 2023, and building on the 2022 foundational work of coach Mitchell and the current players," Wawszkowicz said in a Facebook post.

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"We aim to build an exciting roster of players, and play a style that is suited to our strengths. With the experienced veterans we now have and an exciting group of junior players, we are looking to build a team that our club will continue to be proud of.

"We have seen our men's program build into a force at both Youth League and NBL1 level, driven by a fantastic culture that is heavy on local players but also recognises when outside skills are required to bolster talent and fill positional gaps.

"This is the exact same formula we will use to build our women's program, and we recognise this will take time."

In line with that recruiting plan, homegrown star Williams was the natural first signing for the 2023 NBL1 season.

Williams had an outstanding season in the inaugural NBL 1 East, averaging 7.5 points and five assists a game in a new role of point guard.

Wawszkowicz said he was delighted Williams had agreed to be captain.

"Rachel is an inspirational leader, so much so that she played multiple games this year with a broken finger and refused to give up.

"She shows leadership qualities every time she is on the floor, and as a local junior she sets a great example for all of our young Mustangs to follow.

"Rachel is approaching her prime years as a basketball player, and I'm really looking forward to an exciting year working with her in 2023.

"Securing Rachel for another year is key in our plans to build our roster. Look out for some exciting announcements in the coming days and weeks."

Williams said she was looking forward to playing with the Mustangs again 2023.

"We have started to build our women's program in previous years and we will only keep building with Wok as our coach in the coming season.

"I'm excited to see the team we will have and the development of our younger Mustangs players into our NBL1 women's team/squad. It's an exciting time to be a Mustang."

The Mustangs have also reappointed Luke Boyle who took the men's team to the grand final.

Cal Wade returns as the Youth Men Division 1 team after they also made the grand final in the Waratah YM1 competition last year.

Tom Harvey will return as the head coach of our Youth Men Division 2 after a successful year in 2022.

Tim Lewandowski will be the Youth Women's head coach for 2023.