CENTRAL COAST, NSW – A new era in junior basketball has arrived with the launch of Iron Tigers Basketball Club, already making a powerful impact in its debut season. With 15 teams competing across Breakers Indoor Stadium (Terrigal) and Lakehaven Recreation Centre, and over 100 children and families engaged, Iron Tigers is reshaping how young players get involved in the game on the Central Coast.

Founded by experienced coach and personal trainer Matt Shorrock, Iron Tigers was created to remove the unnecessary barriers that have made entry into local basketball difficult for too many families.

“Other sports allow easy entry points, such as football, where you join a club, get placed in a team and told who your coach is and when training is,” said Shorrock, Director and Head Coach. “With basketball on the Central Coast, unlike anywhere else, it’s ‘great you want to play basketball, now go and find 4 other friends who also want to play, plus a parent to organise it all, and then you can enter a team.’ At Iron Tigers, we are trying to make it easy for kids to get into the sport.”

Iron Tigers is not a representative program or association. It’s a professionally run domestic club, providing players with structured teams, quality coaching, and consistent weekly training. The aim is to support, not compete with, representative associations like the Central Coast Rebels or Central Coast Waves.

“We work in alignment with local associations, not in competition with them,” explained Shorrock. “Our job is to help kids fall in love with the game, build strong fundamentals, and if they want to progress to the representative level — we’ll support them every step of the way.”

All Iron Tigers teams are provided with a dedicated, qualified coach, and the club currently employs 13 coaches, ensuring quality and consistency across every team. Players train weekly in a development-first environment led by Shorrock himself — a Basketball Australia Level 2 accredited coach with nearly a decade of representative coaching experience with the Rebels, Waves, and Basketball NSW High Performance programs. He is also a two-time ISA championship-winning coach at Central Coast Grammar School, coaching their Junior A Basketball team.

Training is held at CC Hoops in Kincumber, with additional sessions at Central Coast Grammar School and Niagara Park Stadium. Expansion is already underway, with new teams planned for upcoming competitions at Niagara Park and PCYC Bateau Bay.

“We’ve been blown away by the positive response from the community,” added Shorrock. “Parents are telling us this is exactly what’s been missing — a place where kids don’t need to organise their own team, where the coaching is consistent, and where their child can develop at their own pace.”

Iron Tigers is now seeking Under 10 Girls for a new team in the Breakers Winter competition and welcoming expressions of interest for upcoming teams at Niagara Park.