Building trust between players and administrators will be a critical focus for Jerril Rechter when she begins as Basketball Australia (BA) chief executive officer next month.
The experienced executive will stand down as VicHealth CEO in mid-March to take over the job vacated by Anthony Moore last October.
Rechter, an award-winning innovator in the public sector in Victoria and a World Health Organisation advisor, said she jumped at the chance to lead the sport into what shapes as a massive two-year period.
The Boomers will host the United States in two games in Melbourne this August ahead of China's World Cup, before the Opals and Boomers head to Tokyo's 2020 Olympics as medal contenders.
"I love stepping into organisations that have momentum and opportunity and that's certainly what basketball is," she told AAP.
"It's got huge potential ... it's a great time for basketball in Australia and I think everyone can feel that momentum kicking in across the nation."
Rechter says she'll need time to identify what needs urgent attention once she begins the job and meets with stakeholders around the country.
But she has taken note of Boomers star Patty Mills' comments last week challenging BA to meet "basic needs" of high performance that he claims may threaten NBA All Star Ben Simmons' participation in the national program.
"I saw all of that playing out last week and from what I understand there's been a huge amount of work done by BA and also the Australian Basketballers' Association to really keep building trust and momentum with those relationships.
"We want to make sure we provide the best possible experience for our players leading into this run of events that we've got, so that continued close relationship is really critical."
A basketball fan who rates Michele Timms among her favourite players, Rechter is confident the sport's new-found popularity can be monetised.
"The opportunity for basketball on all fronts (is high), in terms of participation, high performance outcomes and the opportunity to think about revenue," she said.
"Taking all of those pieces and pulling them together into a compelling piece for the organisation and making sure that the stakeholders are all connected for me is really critical."
Share
