American Colleen Planeta had already retired from basketball when she received an email from then Hume City Broncos women’s coach Warren Taylor in the lead-up to last year’s Big V season.
The email contained an offer too good to turn down.
“I played overseas in Europe for a few years and, after I was done in Germany, I thought I was done playing,” Planeta said.
“And I got an email from Warren seeing if I was maybe interested in coming down.
“I had always wanted to come to Australia. I can’t tell you why. I had already retired from playing and I’d started coaching at a college.
“I saw that the season started in March and our season [in America] ends in March and I would only miss the last couple of weeks of the season back there.
“As soon as I saw the email I thought I have to go.”
Taylor said that once he had spoken to Planeta, she was the only player the club wanted to recruit.
“Speaking to her and her family over Skype, I was comfortable with her attitude. I thought at the time that, the way her character is, we’ll have a win no matter what she does on the court.”
Planeta exceeded the Broncos’ hopes and aspirations. She led the side to its second successive premiership, winning the grand final series’ most valuable player award and later being named the competition’s MVP.
Originally offered a one-year contract, Planeta had no hesitation returning to the club this year.
“It’s nice to be back in a familiar place,” she said. “It’s the first time I’ve done that. Every year in Europe I went to a new team to experience as much as I could.
“Having same familiar faces and being comfortable from the beginning, it feels right.”
Planeta says playing in Australia is, in many ways, a lot easier than playing in Europe.
“It feels closer to home to me, not distance-wise and all, but just being able to speak English and our cultures are similar.
“I can play basketball and not feel like a foreigner.”
With the Broncos using her knowledge, Planeta’s coaching ambitions are in part being realised.
“Since I coached for a season [before I came here], it really helped my own play and development … when you coach and tell players to do stuff and you’re not doing it,
it’s a problem. It becomes more of a mental game, not just relying on what you can do physically.
“I told them [the Broncos] that’s what I wanted to do eventually and they have been so great trying to give me as much experience in as many ways as they can.”
