Her-icanes hire Brittany Sullivan as first head coach

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The upstart Miramichi Her-icanes officially have their first boss on the bench as they prepare for their inaugural season in the Maritime Women’s Basketball Association.

Earlier this week, the Her-icanes announced that Brittany Sullivan will be the club’s first head coach. She’ll be leading the upstart women’s basketball team alongside coaches Jim Watters and Brittany Hare.

Sullivan said to be able to have a team together is great for the community and the local kids, and an opportunity to give back, and pass on any basketball knowledge she has.

“I think it’s great for our community, especially since basketball is in our blood here,” said Sullivan. “We really had to work together to try to determine who can we get that will come play with us at the level and competing, and we’re really fortunate that we do have a community that has strong basketball reps, because there’s a lot of local players that have played at that level that will be joining our team.”

In the past few days, the Her-icanes have announced some of the first players on their roster including former Mount Allison forward Abby Miller of Mt. Denson, Nova Scotia, and Toronto forward Aiden Rainford.

Miller played at Mount Allison from 2018-2023 and was named Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association Player of the Year. Rainford, a former member of Canada’s U16 national team, played two seasons in the NCAA Division One at Radford College and Morehead State, before playing her last two seasons at the University of Prince Edward Island.

Sullivan said they’ll be slowly rolling out the roster leading up to the Battle at the Border tournament on April 27-28 in St. Stephen.

“Our goals were to get as many local players as we could,” said Sullivan.

A Miramichier herself, Sullivan played basketball at Miramichi Valley while also playing for various provincial teams. She then played two seasons at Dalhousie from 2006-08 before missing the next two seasons due to a back injury.

She returned to play in the 2010-2011 season.

On the coaching side, she and her sister Brooke Taylor started a basketball camp for young female hoopers while they were in high school. She also spent some time coaching provincial and developmental teams in New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

Most recently, she spent one season coaching at her old stomping grounds at Miramichi Valley in 2018-19. This Spring, she’ll be back in her gym coaching in a league that’s entering its third season.

Sullivan said she hasn’t been able to coach as much do to her daily life with a family, and a business as a lawyer. Now, she is back on the court as part of a new venture on the river.

“I’m in a really good point in my life where I am going to make the time available to coach,” said Sullivan. “It’s so great to be able to showcase to just younger girls, but younger boys too that you can play this competitive level.”