Punosevac confirmed as new Irish senior women's coach

Sasa Punosevac has been appointed coach of the Irish senior women's international team.

Sasa, who is currently the coach of Nivea For Men SuperLeague side Neptune, comes into the frame with a hugely impressive Basketball CV.

Mr Punosevac hails from Serbia and rose to prominence in the game as coach of Partizan Belgrade in the former Yugoslavian SuperLeague.

He has also coached Partizan U19 side to two league championship victories and received the young coach of the year award in Yugoslavia in their SuperLeague Championship.

Sasa's international experience consists of coaching the U17 Yugoslavian boys to European championship victory in 1997.

Coming into the Irish international fold, Sasa will be working tenaciously over the coming months to collect his squad together in readiness for the forthcoming international season later in the year.

"I will spend February visiting every club and talking to players at these clubs who want to play for Ireland. I will have a picture after that and can begin planning for our games in August."

When asked about the appointment, Mr Punosevac revealed his excitement of obtaining the new role.

"I am very happy to be taking this position and it will be a new experience for me working with a ladies team. We do not have a professional set-up in Ireland but that does not mean we do not have great players here who are capable of playing internationally."

Tough challenges lie ahead for the senior women, but during last years qualifying campaign the collection of young players sshowed promise and Sasa will be looking for a continuation of this theme.

"We cannot now qualify for the European Championships but I will be aiming to win our two home games against Iceland and Norway. I feel that this will be a good base to build on"