Kennedy Kereama joined the Opals coaching panel for the 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup campaign, bringing more than 15 years of coaching experience spanning club basketball in Australia and international competition with New Zealand's national women's team.

Coaching Career

Kereama built his national-team pedigree with New Zealand, serving as head coach of the Tall Ferns (New Zealand's senior women's national team) for close to a decade from 2010 to 2017, having previously been an assistant coach with the Tall Ferns at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In Australia's WNBL, Kereama has coached at three clubs. He was head coach of the West Coast Waves (now the Perth Lynx) from 2012 to 2015, before later taking assistant roles with the Canberra Capitals, Melbourne Boomers and Dandenong Rangers. He was appointed head coach of the Bendigo Spirit for the 2022–23 season, returning to a club he had previously coached in a different guise, and has since led the Spirit to multiple competitive seasons, including a third-place ladder finish that earned him the WNBL Coach of the Year award. He also coaches the Ballarat Miners in NBL1 and works as director of coaching for the Sunbury Basketball Association.

Kereama's move onto the Opals staff for the 2026 World Cup adds another line to a résumé that already includes Olympic Games and national-team head coaching experience, giving Sandy Brondello's panel another set of eyes with deep knowledge of both the Australian WNBL pathway and international women's basketball systems.