The British Basketball Federation has announced that Donnie MacDonald has been appointed as head coach to the Great Britain under 16 women’s team.

MacDonald, who previously led the team in 2022, will take up the role immediately, leading the squad’s preparations for the FIBA under 16 EuroBasket Division B tournament in Turkey this summer. 

Following his appointment, Donnie who is taking on the role in addition to his job as High Performance Lead with the Caledonia Gladiators, said: “I’m delighted to be back working with the Great Britain Under 16 women’s basketball team and can’t wait to get started. 

“It’s a great responsibility to lead the youngest Great Britain age group and help players take their first steps in international basketball, so it’s a great honour to be selected for this position.”

Consultant Performance Lead for the British Basketball Federation, Fiona Pimblett led the recent recruitment process and commented on Donnie’s appointment:

“Great Britain Under 16’s Head Coach is an incredibly important role to us. It’s the first experience that players get of FIBA tournament basketball, and we want this first experience to be a positive, challenging but constructive developmental experience for the players. We strongly believe that Donnie is the one to come in and have this in place, continuing the amazing work from Lee Davie last year. 

“Donnie has got a great amount of experience already in this space and his vision for this team and its alignment with the rest of the women’s pathway is a key part of our strategy. We’ve got a really strong coaching pathway now all the way from under 16 through to senior, and so it feels like we have a bright future ahead of us.”

In addition to his previous coaching role with the GB Under 16 team, MacDonald also has several years of experience working with Scottish youth and senior national teams and has coached at six European Championships in the past eleven years. He was also head coach for the Scottish women’s 3×3 team at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. 

MacDonald will be work closely with Paul Fournel, who was announced as the Great Britain Basketball Youth Teams Programme Manager at the start of 2024 ,and also with Charlotte Redhead, who is the Team Manager for the GB Under 16 women. Together they will ensure that the best possible support is in place for the Great Britain Women’s under 16 team.