The Rockingham Flames Women’s SBL team continues to go from strength to strength, re-signing 3 key players for the 2010 season. 

Just a couple of weeks after agreeing to terms for 2010 and 2011 with Head Coach Ryan Petrik the Flames have made huge inroads into securing the key components of the 2009 team. The Flames roster building has been boosted by the return of sharp shooting Gail Eikhoudt, vice captain Casey Haggar, and young point guard Teamo Wheki for the 2010 season.

Haggar was a key ingredient in 2009, averaging 14.8ppg and 6.6 rebounds from the shooting guard position. She was able to extract the most out of the running game coach Petrik put into place, setting the league alight before battling injury in the latter stages of the season. "Casey's ability to get out on the break and finish is up there with the best players in the league, as her athleticism is off the charts. She is one of the best slashers in the competition, getting to the hoop almost at will, which is the perfect compliment to the shooting of Eikhoudt at the point" coach Petrik had to say.

Point Guard Eikhoudt was a revelation in season 2009, going from averaging 2 points and 15 minutes a game in 2008, to averaging more than 11ppg in 32 minutes a night in 2009. To cap that off, she went 59 from 131 from beyond the 3pt line, good enough to lead the league at 45%.

Coach Petrik was thrilled to have his starting point guard recommit for the 2010 season. "Gail is a player that every coach in the league would love to have; she can handle the ball at the point, is an excellent defender, lightning quick, aggressive, and yet can play off the ball because of her ability to shoot the 3. She is without question the best 3pt shooter in the competition, and the fact that nearly half of her 3pt attempts are off the dribble coming off screens testifies to that”. 

Backup point guard Wheki was the 3rd member of the trio to re-sign, having made the switch to Rockingham in 2009. After suiting up in every game in 2009, Wheki was a key member of the squad, and also shot above 40% from 3. 

"Teamo was like a breath of fresh air around the club, and the girls fell in love with her instantly. We have some very fast girls in the squad in Gail, Casey, Nicole Miller etc, yet Teamo destroys them baseline to baseline. Add to that the fact she shot 40% from behind the 3pt line as someone who only turned 17 during the season, the sky's the limit for her, and we're really excited to have her at Rockingham for years to come". 

With the off season in full swing, coach Petrik made it clear he wasn't done just yet. "We desperately wanted to re-sign the key group of the 2009 as not too many clubs will have their entire starting 5 return, and we've just about done that, which is a big tick of approval for the club and the system we have in place.  The next couple of weeks will be really interesting to see just who we land, we've made it pretty clear we want to challenge the Willettons, Perry Lakes and Kalamundas of the world next season and with the additions we're about to make we’re pretty confident we will be able to do that in 2010".

For all updates and progress of the Lady Flames team visit their official website www.rockinghamflames.com.au

Article by RBRA