AARON FEARNE - Taipans Head Coach 11/12
Since arriving in Cairns in 1998 Aaron has had a major influence in the development of Junior Basketball in the Cairns region. He has a knack for identifying and developing young talent, with many of the players under his guidance going on to scholarships in the US College system and the Australian Institute of Sport.
Aaron is one of only two people currently with the Cairns Taipans who have been with the club since inception (the other being Aaron Grabau) and is very passionate about the Taipans and basketball in Cairns. Aaron has also been a major factor in the success of the Cairns Marlins ABA program and has been an on court leader throughout his playing career.
Aaron, took over coaching the Cairns Marlins in 2006 and in 2007 was awarded ABA Coach of the Year for leading the Cairns Marlins to the National title against the Dandenong Rangers.
Playing Career
Graduated 1997 - Mayville State University North Dakota. Played 2 seasons with Mayville and reached the National Tournament in both seasons.
1998 - Started with the Cairns Marlins in the ABA competition.
Played in 4 National ABA tournaments winning 2 championships 1998 and 2004. 1999/00 & 2000/01 - Played with the Cairns Taipans
Coaching Career
U18 Cairns Marlin representative team since 1999. Finished in top 4 in the state in 4 season and 2nd in the state in two seasons.
Assistant Coach with U18 North Queensland team which won the National Championships in 2004.
Coached the U23 Cairns Marlins representative team since 2000. Runners up in NQ Championships for 4 years. Won the title in 2004.
Coached and overseen Cairns Taipans Academy program since inception in 2001. Since that time the Academy has had 5 Academy members graduate to the College system in the USA and 2 attending the Australian Institute of Sport. Assistant Coach Cairns Taipans since 2001/02 season
MICK DOWNER - Taipans Assistant Coach
2010/11 will be the 3rd season for Mick in the NBL as an Assistant Coach and his 2nd at the Cairns Taipans.
Mick is the Head Coach of the Cairns Bartercard Marlins in the Queensland Basketball League (QBL) and leads our Taipans Academy program.
Mick returned to Cairns after spending the 2008/09 season as an Assistant Coach with the Perth Wildcats to Conner Henry. Mick is no stranger to Cairns after previously holding the dual positions of Administrator and Coaching Director for Cairns Basketball.
Mick has over 15 years coaching experience and held positions at all levels throughout Australia. Mick is the incumbent Assistant Coach of the Australian University Men's Program and previously the High Performance Head Coach for Basketball Western Australia, Head Coach of the Queensland Academy of Sport (North QLD), Coaching Director (St Lawrence's, Loreto College) in Brisbane and the Development Officer at Southern District Spartans Association. He has also been involved in the National Junior program, Queensland & West Australian State Teams, National Junior Camps, the ABA and Schools of Excellence programs.
Mick has also travelled the world in various coaching capacities. Countries include the United States, Canada, Serbia, France, Spain, New Zealand, and recently Indonesia. He was the recipient of a High Performance Coaching Scholarship (Western Australia) won many coaching awards and written a variety of published articles (X's & O's, and Winning Hoops).
Recent positions include:
Head Coach - 2010 Bartercard Cairns Marlins
Head Coach - Cairns Taipans Academy
Assistant Coach - 2009 Australian Men's University Team, Wold Universiade Serbia
Head Coach - 2009 State League (WA) Wanneroo Wolves
Head Coach - 2008 - 2005 QLD and WA State Teams
Mick has also been involved with the Taipans Academy, Townsville Sharp Start and Brisbane "Junior" Bullets programs throughout his career and spent 2 seasons with the Brisbane Bullets as a voluntary assistant coach.
As a player Mick represented the Southern District Spartans club as a junior and in the CBA (now QBL), spent 2 seasons with the Junior Bullets and trained with the Brisbane Bullets before heading to the US for a year at the University of Maine, Presque Isle on a basketball scholarship. On return from the USA Mick pursued coaching and has continued with this path. Mick is married to Melissa who is also a basketballer.
