Sarah Elsworthy will join the Sturt Sabre’s women’s side for the 2017 Premier League campaign after an impressive season in the WNBL with the Adelaide Lightning.

Elsworthy dominated at the Adelaide 36ers and Adelaide Lightning MVP Gala Dinner last Saturday, March 18 walking away with three awards: Best Defensive Player, Most Improved Player, and the Rachael Sporn Encouragement Award.

“I was really surprised at the time, and to hear my name called out three times at such a big event in the calendar for South Australian basketball was an amazing feeling and truly humbling.”

Elsworthy’s consistent hard work throughout the season has not only won her awards, but has also warranted the announcement of her recent signing with the Adelaide Lightning for the 2017/18 season.

“I love the culture of the club. We started the season as a very young and inexperienced team and it was a tough season when you look at the wins and loss column.”

“As a team I thought we bounced back from our tough losses and kept fighting throughout the whole season which is a credit to the coaching staff.”

The 18 year old spoke highly of the dedication of Head Coach, Chris Lucas.

“Chris really focused on building great team culture and learning to play for each other and for the singlet.”

Elsworthy will join Lightning’s Assistant Coach, Marcus Wong, at the Sturt Sabres this year.

“Marcus is a really good coach and has great knowledge and ideas about the game. He is committed 100% to the team and is always pushing everyone to improve and better themselves.”

Elsworthy hit the nail on the head with her description of the loyal Sabre coach. Wong started coaching 22 years ago and has spent the last 15 of them with the Sturt Sabres.

His extensive coaching experience means that he can very easily identify a star up-and-coming player. When asked who amongst the young Sabres will have a breakout season this year, both Sarah Elsworthy and Hannah Stewart were noted by Wong, but he wants to see contribution from the entire team.

“We were the second youngest playing group last year and I think we’re hoping some of the young kids we’ve invested time in developing will step up.”

“We’re a fairly evenly balanced group off the bench so hopefully we have contributions from our first player to our twelfth.”

The 2016 season saw the Sturt Sabres narrowly miss out on finals finishing sixth on the ladder for the year. The Sabre’s women will be looking to redeem themselves this season and the respected coach will look to capitalise on the team’s strengths. 

“We just want to play an exciting brand of basketball, try and get up and down the court quickly and run.”

“We’re pretty strong for our guard content so we’ll be looking to put pressure on teams up the court and focus on that.”

Elsworthy has enjoyed a smooth transition across to Sturt for the 2017 season.

“All of the girls and coaches have really welcomed me into the club and made me feel like I fit in straight away.”

As the award suggests, the 2016/17 Adelaide Lightning’s Most Improved Player, has seen significant progression in her own game over the recent season.

“I think the season has given me a new level of confidence as a player.”

“Throughout the season I felt that my teammates and coaches really believed in me and my ability so when I was out on the court I had confidence to play my natural game and be aggressive at both ends of the court.”

Elsworthy is excited to bring this enhanced confidence and aggression to the Sabre’s side.

“I think I can bring some more speed and an aggressive style of play both defensively and offensively which really suits the roster we have this year at Sturt.”

“As a point guard I’m hoping to develop my assertiveness and become a solid leader on court for the team.”

Both the new player and the longstanding coach expect to see the Sturt Women back in the finals this season.

“Our main goal is to try and get back into finals. There’s the old cliché of taking it week by week and trying to improve over the season and get back into the finals.”

Elsworthy had similar comments to make.

“I guess our expectations are to improve on our game each week and play our best brand of basketball… making finals is a major goal.”

The Sturt Sabres’ are by no means the only club welcoming new faces for the 2017 Premier League season.

“It seems quite a few teams have imports this year and past or current WNBL players.”

“Alex Wilson and Olivia Thompson will definitely strengthen the league and by looking at team rosters, it seems like the competition will be really close which is exciting for all people involved.”

Round one will see the Sturt Sabres face the Southern Tigers Women at Pasadena from 6:30pm on Saturday, April 1.