AFTER serving an apprenticeship as an assistant coach for the past two years, Kristy Bultitude has been appointed head coach of the Newcastle Falcons women’s team for the 2024 NBL1 East season.
A Newcastle junior before continuing her playing career at Muswellbrook and Grafton, and a teacher by occupation, Kristy is passionate about basketball and dedicates much of her spare time to coaching.
With Kristy as an assistant coach to Martin McLean in 2023 and Chloe Mullaney in 2022, the Falcons reached the NBL1 East play-offs in the past two seasons and she is determined to see further improvement next year.
“I am excited to lead this great group of women. We have experienced some success but together, as a group, we want more,” said Kristy, pictured with 2024 Newcastle Falcons men’s coach Josh Morgan.
“I am looking forward to building on the experience we have on court and building on the passion and enthusiasm Newcastle breeds.”
For the past 14 years, Kristy has coached at junior representative, NSW junior representative and NSW schools representative levels in a variety of age groups, and has been involved as a coach with the Basketball NSW high-performance program for the past nine years.
Kristy coached the NSW Country Under-16 women’s team at national championships this year, juggling those commitments with her duties as Falcons assistant coach. She has been the Hunter Primary Schools coach since 2008, and on the NSW Primary Schools coaching staff since 2015.
Her roles as an assistant coach with the Falcons included organising training sessions, scouting opposing teams, and providing leadership and guidance to NBL1, Youth League and Under-18 players.
As a long-serving coach in Maitland’s junior and senior representative programs before returning to Newcastle in 2022, Kristy has established close contacts and developed strong relationships with players and coaches throughout the Hunter region.
Newcastle Basketball General Manager Matt Neason said Kristy’s familiarity with the program and the players made her a stand-out candidate.
“Kristy head-coached the team for three games last season, and delivered three wins. More importantly, she provided some great leadership in holding the team together as we battled injuries and fatigue,” Neason said.
“One of the key focuses for us in 2024 is building pathways and connection between our junior representative program, our Youth League, and NBL1. We want a one-team culture, and for all of our players to feel part of the Falcons family, and Kristy is really committed to this vision.
“We felt we were among the top one or two teams all year, so we definitely have unfinished business in 2024. We’re hoping our women’s team will be back bigger and stronger in 2024, and pushing to cement ourselves as one of the strongest NBL1 women’s programs in the country.”