British Wheelchair Basketball is pleased to announce the appointment of Simon Fisher as Interim GB Coach to help prepare the GB Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team for the re-scheduled 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
Fisher, who in his previous role was BWB’s Academy Lead, will work with Head of Coaching and Tactical Development Haj Bhania OBE and GB Assistant Coach Steve Caine as the Women’s team continue their preparations for Tokyo.
First joining British Wheelchair Basketball in 2014, Fisher is an experienced and highly-respected coach, who in his role as Academy Lead has played a key role in supporting the development of athletes in the performance pathway.
Alongside his day-to-day role, Fisher was the GB Men’s Team Manager when they won the World title at the 2018 World Championships, a role he also held at the 2017 and 2019 European Championships, when the Men’s team won silver and gold, respectively.
He was also Assistant Coach when the U25 Women claimed bronze at the 2019 U25 World Championships in Thailand.
A qualified wheelchair basketball and basketball coach, Fisher has a rich basketball pedigree, working with Basketball England’s national teams as Head Coach of England U16s from 2007 to 2011 and then England U17s Coach from 2011 to 2014. During his time with the U16s, Fisher was the first coach to lead an England age group team to promotion to Division A.
Fisher has also been Head Coach of Wales U16s, leading the team to a silver medal in Division C of the European Championships in 2018, and now holds the role of Director of National Teams on Basketball Wales’ Board of Directors.
Fisher joins the coaching team at an exciting time for the Women’s team following their silver medal successes at both the 2018 World Championships and 2019 European Championships, the highest-ever finishes for a GB Women’s team.
Commenting on his appointment, Fisher said:
“It’s a huge honour to be appointed Interim GB Coach and to be a part of the coaching team with Haj Bhania and Steve Caine. They are both fantastic coaches who I have learned a lot from during my time at BWB.
“The Women’s team is now one of the world’s leading teams demonstrated in their World and European silver medal winning performances, so I’m really looking forward to working with the team and helping them be in the best possible position for achieving their medal hopes in Tokyo.”
British Wheelchair Basketball Performance Director, Jayne Ellis added:
“With our preparations stepping-up ahead of Tokyo, we’re delighted to be able to strengthen our coaching team further and appoint Simon as Interim GB Coach. Simon is an experienced coach who is hugely respected within the wheelchair basketball community.
“His dedication and commitment to the sport, especially the development of athletes, has been unquestionable since he first joined British Wheelchair Basketball and we’re really pleased he will be joining our world-leading coaching team and working with the GB Women’s team.”
