A FORMER assistant coach with Bendigo Spirit in 2016-17, Nathan Cooper-Brown has landed a role with National Basketball League club Cairns Taipans.

Cooper-Brown – more recently head coach of the SEABL’s Ballarat Miners – will leave his roles at Basketball Ballarat to pursue an assistant’s role with the Taipans.

The 37-year-old initially turned down the role after deciding he would not be able to relocate with his first child on the way.

But the club came back to Cooper-Brown with a new offer, allowing him to still live and work in Melbourne.

As a remote assistant, Cooper-Brown’s role will include helping with film break down and scouting reports, attending games in Melbourne and occasionally flying to Cairns for games.

“It’s my first opportunity to get into a league, something that has been on my goals list,” Cooper-Brown said. 

“So to be able to tick another box as I move onwards in my career is really exciting.

“The fact I wasn’t able to go up there but they still found a way to get me involved shows how much they value me and that’s important, I really appreciated it. It has been a nice compromise.”

Cooper-Brown has spent three years with Basketball Ballarat as athlete and coach development manager and two years working with Ballarat’s South East Australian Basketball League team as assistant and head coach.

During his time with the Miners, Cooper-Brown helped lead the team to consecutive top four finishes and finals appearances.

He will oversee a transition period before finishing his roles at the club in December.

“I will miss the relationships with the people I have got to know here,” he said. “Staff, committee members, coaches, but most importantly, the athletes and the kids that I have just spent three years working with on a daily basis – that’s the hardest thing to deal with.”

Cooper-Brown has represented the country as an assistant coach with the under-17 men’s Australian team at the world cup and will continue to pursue his national ambitions.

- Originally published in The Courier