Former Boomers Analyst and NBL Coach to Lead Australia’s National Team in FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers
The Boomers are back in business, with a new head coach taking over as former coach Brian Goorjian has retired following this year’s Paris Olympics. With Jacob Chance taking over as a temporary coach for the next two games, the team is sure to ramp up in enthusiasm and skill to reflect the long legacy of their departing coach.
Whether you’ve only recently become a fan of the Boomers after their performance on the world stage at the Paris Olympics, or if you simply want to update your basketball jersey design to reflect the new changes to the team, it’s a great time to explore customisable basketball jerseys at Vortex Basketball.
Who Is Jacob Chance?
Unless you are a seriously next-level Boomer’s supporter, you might have missed the news of the young Australian now responsible for leading the team.
Before stepping into the big shoes of Goorjian, Chance was the head of video and analytics for the Boomers working with Melbourne United. He will lead the team in the next two matches for the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 qualifiers held in Thailand in November 2024.
While he’s still only a young coach he has a long and prosperous history in the NBL under his belt already, having worked as assistant coach for the Perth Wildcats and the Tasmania Jack Jumpers before starting with the Boomers. He has expressed his thanks to Basketball Australia for the opportunity and for helping to support young Australian coaches during this time of change.
Chance has also reached out to the media with nothing but confidence for his upcoming role leading the Boomers against Thailand on November 21st and Korea on November 24th. As a proud Australian coach, he looks forward to the experience he will gain from leading the team, along with assistant coaches Kerry Williams and Robbie McKinlay.
Chance is more than qualified to take on leading the team while a fulltime replacement is sought, with his depth of experience including major tournaments such as the FIBA Asia Cup, the World Cup, and the recent Olympics.
Among his supporters is Jason Smith, the Executive GM of High Performance for Basketball Australia. Smith says “Jacob is what we need in this window”, with special attention paid to his skillset, compatibility, and the existing relationships he has built with the team as they move forward into qualifiers later this month.
Other respected coaches, such as United coach Dean Vickerman, have had nothing but positive words to say about Chance, with his work ethic being described as “...the elite way he works…”, high praise indeed.
Others On The Team
The Boomers team has other legends working away to create success for the upcoming tournament, with Tokyo Olympics bronze medallists Nick Kay, Chris Goulding, and Nathan Sobey featured among the players.
Other veteran team members include Jack White, Sam Froling, Dejan Vasiljevic, Ben Henshall, Mitch Norton, Jordan Hunter, and Rocco Zikarsky. Newer to the stage are Will ‘Davo’ Hickey and Lachlan Olbrich, who are competing for the first time at the senior international level.
With a team stacked for success, we look forward to seeing Chance stretch his wings as head coach and are hopeful for a rousing victory among the qualifiers for the FIBA Asia 2025 Qualifying Tournament.
How To Show Support
As fans of the Boomers, you might enjoy the opportunity to show your support while watching the qualifying games. But unless you have a lot of disposable income, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to make it to the games themselves, since they are being held in a few short weeks in Thailand.
However, you can still easily show your support for Chance and the team from home as they take on this new challenge. One of the easiest ways to show your support is through a customisable basketball jersey.
You can design your own jersey through Vortex Basketball’s customisable function, where you can select from a range of pre-designed jerseys to alter, or create your own completely new design to wear in support.
With Chance only selected to take over for two games so far, this is a novel and short-lived chance to create a custom jersey to reflect his first time acting as head coach. In the future, you might even want to look back on this time as he goes on to achieve great things within the NBL.
Wearing this jersey will be a great way to show Chance he has a strong base of support from his home country, as he represents Australia on the world stage during this qualifying time.
You can also support your favourite player, with a range of designs available. The jerseys are fully customisable with team names, numbers, and colours. If you play in a local game, try designing your own uniform showing your support for the Boomers as they navigate away from the reigns of the long-time former head coach Brian Goorjian.