# Bendigo Spirit

The Bendigo Spirit are an Australian professional basketball team based in Bendigo, Victoria. The Spirit play in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at Red Energy Arena. The team debuted in the WNBL in 2007.

## History

The Bendigo Spirit were formed in 2007 and debuted in the Women's National Basketball League in the 2007–08 season. The inaugural team was coached by Bernie Harrower and was led by his daughter, Kristi Harrower.
The Spirit played in three straight WNBL Grand Finals between 2013 and 2015, winning back-to-back WNBL championships in 2012–13 and 2013–14. At the time, the team was led by Harrower, Gabrielle Richards, Kelly Wilson as well as imports Chelsea Aubry and the now naturalised, Kelsey Griffin.
The Spirit missed the playoffs every year between 2015–16 and 2023–24. In 2024–25, the Spirit returned to the playoffs and made the WNBL Grand Final behind league MVP, Sami Whitcomb. The Spirit went on to defeat the Townsville Fire 2–0 in the grand final series to win their third WNBL championship.

## Season-by-season records

| Season | Standings | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Finals | Head coach |
| Season | Standings | W | L | PCT | Finals | Head coach |
| Bendigo Spirit |||||||
| 2007–08 | 7th | 10 | 14 | 41.6 | Did not qualify | Bernie Harrower |
| 2008–09 | 5th | 14 | 8 | 63.6 | Lost Elimination Final (Adelaide, 73–81) | Bernie Harrower |
| 2009–10 | 5th | 13 | 9 | 59.1 | Lost Elimination Final (Townsville, 73–84) | Bernie Harrower |
| 2010–11 | 3rd | 15 | 7 | 68.2 | Won Semi Final (Logan, 74–53) Lost Preliminary Final (Canberra, 78–83) | Bernie Harrower |
| 2011–12 | 6th | 12 | 10 | 54.5 | Did not qualify | Bernie Harrower |
| 2012–13 | 1st | 21 | 3 | 87.5 | Won Semi Final (Dandenong, 78–71) Won Grand Final (Townsville, 71–57) | Bernie Harrower |
| 2013–14 | 1st | 22 | 2 | 91.6 | Won Semi Final (Dandenong, 71–62) Won Grand Final (Townsville, 94–83) | Bernie Harrower |
| 2014–15 | 2nd | 15 | 7 | 68.2 | Lost Semi Final (Townsville, 63–82) Won Preliminary Final (Sydney, 85–77) Lost Grand Final (Townsville, 65–75) | Bernie Harrower |
| 2015–16 | 6th | 12 | 12 | 50.0 | Did not qualify | Simon Pritchard |
| 2016–17 | 6th | 13 | 11 | 54.1 | Did not qualify | Simon Pritchard |
| 2017–18 | 8th | 4 | 17 | 19.1 | Did not qualify | Simon Pritchard |
| 2018–19 | 7th | 7 | 14 | 33.3 | Did not qualify | Simon Pritchard |
| 2019–20 | 7th | 5 | 16 | 23.8 | Did not qualify | Tracy York |
| 2020 | 8th | 0 | 13 | 0.0 | Did not qualify | Tracy York |
| 2021–22 | 5th | 7 | 9 | 43.7 | Did not qualify | Tracy York |
| 2022–23 | 5th | 11 | 10 | 52.3 | Did not qualify | Tracy York |
| 2023–24 | 6th | 11 | 10 | 52.3 | Did not qualify | Kennedy Kereama |
| Regular season | Regular season | 192 | 172 | 53.0 | 2 Minor Premierships |
| Finals | Finals | 6 | 5 | 54.5 | 2 WNBL Championships |
Source: Bendigo Spirit Archived 22 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine

## Players
### Former players

* Kathleen MacLeod, (2007–08)
* Jenna O'Hea, (2007–08)
* Kristi Harrower, (2008–2015)
* Chelsea Aubry, (2009–2015)
* Heather Oliver, (2010–2018)
* / Kelsey Griffin, (2012–2018)
* Sara Blicavs, (2013–2015)
* Belinda Snell, (2014–2016)
* Betnijah Laney, (2017–18)
* Jennie Rintala
* Carley Ernst
* Chevannah Paalvast
* Alicia Froling
* Amelia Todhunter

## Coaches and staff
### Head coaches

Bendigo Spirit head coaches :
| Name | Start | End | Seasons | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| Name | Start | End | Seasons | W | L | PCT | G | W | L | PCT | G |
| Bernie Harrower | 2007 | 2015 | 8 | 121 | 61 | 66.4 | 182 | 6 | 5 | 54.5 | 11 |
| Simon Pritchard | 2015 | 2018 | 4 | 36 | 54 | 40.0 | 90 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Tracy York | 2019 | 2022 | 3 | 5 | 16 | 23.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Kennedy Kereama | 2022 | | 1 | 7 | 0 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |

## Ownership

In April 2022, the team's WNBL license was purchased from Bendigo Stadium Limited (BSL) by Sports Entertainment Group.