Justine Reed

Basketball
Coach Profile

New Zealand women’s 3 x 3 basketball coach

Helping young women achieve their goals through the power of sport has driven the rise of Justine Reed from decorated player to making waves on the sidelines as head coach of the Tall Ferns 3 x 3 basketball team.

Initially a reluctant coach, the unassuming Reed now juggles a busy lifestyle to slip seamlessly between a demanding fulltime role in the business world to the equally demanding world of international coach.

Head coach of the Tall Ferns 3 x 3 team since 2020, Reed has coached numerous teams over the past 10 years, including the New Zealand U18 and U17 women’s teams, age-group and senior teams at Harbour Basketball while also being assistant coach at international level for several age-group sides.

A prominent figure in the New Zealand basketball community, Reed enjoyed a successful playing career both domestically and abroad in the United States, where she experienced first-hand how to become an elite athlete in her chosen sport.

In her last year at school, she had the opportunity to be part of a foreign exchange programme and was placed at Ramona High School in San Diego.

College coaches soon came calling and Reed earned a scholarship to the University of San Diego and a College basketball career from 1994 – 1998. She played for the Tall Ferns in 1999.

On returning home, Reed has since applied her experience and knowledge to coaching some of New Zealand’s elite basketball talent while also advancing the country’s footprint in the sport.

“Coaching was the last thing I wanted to do,’’ she said. “I just got into it through my daughter playing at school and them needing a coach and from there I just got addicted to it.’’

That was 2008 and Reed has been hooked ever since.

“It’s become a passion to help girls reach their goals, and helping them on their pathway by using sport,’’ she said.

“I think sport is a great way to teach people, just generally, really good life skills and that’s the main drive that keeps me going.

“And a lot of times the girls didn’t usually get the best resources or access to the best things, so it was just about me trying to help get that to the forefront and make sure that the girls got what they deserved.’’

One of the areas in which Reed has become a leader is through developing New Zealand’s evolution in 3 x 3 (pronounced 3 ex 3) basketball, ranked the largest urban team sport in the world and an increasingly important influence in the development of the sport world-wide.

“I think for the women particularly, in New Zealand, it’s had a huge influence,’’ Reed said.

“It’s provided another avenue of opportunity for them to play at a high level. In the past with five on five (traditional basketball), it’s been quite limited and we’ve always been in the Oceania region where Australia is.

“So, we always had to beat them to progress any further in terms of international. With 3 x 3, it evens the playing field for smaller nations like New Zealand. In this format any team in the world can win on any given day.

“The athletes that we have in New Zealand are naturally really-well suited for 3 x 3.’’

Being athlete-focused has been Reed’s enduring coaching philosophy but 3 x 3 throws up a different set of challenges with coaching not allowed during games.

A lot of the technical concepts of basketball are the same for both sports but the strategy for 3 x 3 is very different.

“That means doing all the coaching beforehand to prepare them but I’ve always believed in putting as much as possible into guiding the athletes and providing them with the skills to be able to make the decisions themselves,’’ Reed said.

“The skills to be able to make the right decisions at key moments in the game and to help them on that journey. It’s trying to transfer the onus on them to take ownership for what they do in the training conversations.

“I’m guiding them and giving some direction but, mainly it’s about trying to get them more involved. And that’s a learning process because a lot of athletes haven’t been brought up in that kind of environment or that way.’’

Friends and former playing colleagues Jody Cameron and Leanne Walker, who have both also gone on to become successful coaches, have been strong supporters and influences for Reed.

Cameron leads the successful High Performance Sport New Zealand Te Hāpaitanga programme for emerging and high potential female coaches of which Reed is part of the third cohort of participants.

New Zealand men’s 3 x 3 head coach Piet van Hasselt has also been an important source of knowledge and support.

Reed expects 3 x 3 to have a growing influence in New Zealand.

“A lot of the international events are overseas but recently we had an eight-game series against Australia in Invercargill,’’ she said.

“There’s going to be more and more opportunities for us to showcase that to the general public and show girls that it’s a really good pathway worldwide. There’s a lot of money being thrown into it by the governing body of basketball and a lot of countries are seeing the value of investing in it.’’

With the Commonwealth Games now featuring 3 x 3 instead of five on five, and 3 x 3 making its Olympic Games debut in 2020, the abbreviated version has a bright future.

Coaching New Zealand in the debut of 3 x 3 at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham was a career highlight for Reed along with the team’s recent success over Australia.

“It’s a great privilege to be the coach of a national team,’’ she said. “There is a little bit of pressure because you want to do well as you’re representing New Zealand on the international stage.

“So, I just keep trying to make sure that the team’s as well prepared as they can be and personally, staying up to date with the latest trends and tactics.

“It’s also important that we’re staying close with the players to make sure that they’re on board and still want to represent New Zealand and 3 x 3, which is a bit hard at times as both formats share the same wider group of players.

“That can cause some conflict with time, so it’s about managing that side of things as well.’’

Being on the Te Hāpaitanga programme has also proved inspiring for Reed, who is relishing the opportunity to interact with like-minded people.

“It’s been really great, just talking with other people from other sports, and the really successful coaches they bring in to talk to us and tell us about it all,’’ she said.

“That’s been really, really good in helping me along the way, and helping me focus on my development. Just having other women that understand what you’re going through. You can be vulnerable with them and know that it’s a safe place to share the challenges.’’

Coaching can be a bumpy and lonely ride at times but for Reed the rewards outweigh all else.

“Seeing players reach their goals, sporting or otherwise, and knowing if I can help them get there, whether it’s representing New Zealand, earning a professional contract or earning a scholarship to the States, all of that kind of stuff really drives me and is something that I really get a lot of satisfaction from,’’ Reed said.

“And as a coach, you really need to love the game. I just feel at home when I’m near a basketball court or coaching and if you can pass the love of the game on to your players that will help them get through the hard times.’’

All the while, Reed, a chartered accountant, juggles basketball with a demanding fulltime job outside of basketball, as an Associate Director in the Tax and Private team at Deloitte where she also works on the Māori Services team.

“It’s quite a high performing environment as well,’’ she said, “so both the sporting and business roles mirror each other a little bit in some aspects. Having really good time management is the biggest thing for me and they have also been very accommodating and understand that this is something I have a passion for.

“They have been very supportive, it’s just being able to handle the stress levels that come in both situations and I do that pretty well.’’

Often the forgotten people of sport, Reed is embracing the recent set-up of Sport Performances Coaches New Zealand as an added network to celebrate, encourage and support our sporting mentors.

Always learning and keen to press on with her development, Reed aspires to one day land a coaching position that is more than just part-time and with the rapid development of 3 x 3 that remains a distinct possibility.