The “Glue” That Keeps the Kings Together

Sydney Kings assistant coach Fleur McIntyre has opened up on being the “glue” that keeps the club together and how important female representation is in the NBL.

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When asked on The Huddle podcast why Kings coach Chase Buford refers to McIntyre as the glue of the club, she explained her coaching style of making individuals feel valued in their role.

“I feel so fortunate that I have ended up at the Sydney Kings. I can't speak for other organisations, but it is so much fun to go to work every day with this coaching staff,” McIntyre said.

“I just feel very fortunate. They are the greatest bunch of human beings who bring me so much joy every day. Hopefully I reflect that and give back to them as well.

“I think what I do well is that…I think people need to feel valued in what they bring to organisations and not everyone can be the superstar, not everyone's going to be playing minutes all the time.

“I think we have a really nice, healthy balance of helping people and developing individuals and where they want to go, but also where they fit within our organisation. That's something I really cherish, that I've gotten to form relationships with these guys and understand their stories and be part of their journey this year.

“That's something that I really find passion in and hopefully that's reflected in the way I operate. It's a really fun group to be part of, working with Chase, Kev (Kevin Lisch), Kicks (Daniel Kickert), we have a lot of laughs. Amongst the stress and the high pressure at times, we always find something to laugh about, so it's a really fun place to be.”

McIntyre is currently the only female coach in the NBL, following in the footsteps of Lori Chizik, Michele Timms, Tracy York and Chanelle Pompallier, and she still feels the impacts of misconceptions and assumptions surrounding women in sport.

Often asked if she is the team manager or physio on road trips, McIntyre emphasised how there is still a long way to go in breaking down the stereotyping of women working in a male sporting league.

“When I think about breaking the bias, it's probably eliminating those misconceptions about gender roles and where we fit, particularly in Australian sport,” she said.

“For a long time, historically, Australian sport is embedded in male culture. It's a tough thing to overcome and certainly there's been huge changes in the growth of women's professionalism, getting paid, equity, resources and opportunity, but there’s still a long way to go.

“Hopefully we can start to bridge that gap a little bit and start to value, across anything, not just gender, but diversity and inclusion.”

One of the ways she thinks that change can be progressed is growing the representation of women in the NBL, with McIntyre drawing on a story with a fan earlier this season which highlighted how important it is.

“There’s moments…the Brisbane game when we lost in the fourth quarter. We were walking out postgame. There was a group of Sydney Kings supporters, probably eight or nine waiting around after the game,” McIntyre said.

“We're all probably a little bit devastated having lost that game and the guys were thanking the supporters for attending the game and how much we appreciated their support and Chase is always really gracious in thanking them.

“I sort of smiled and kept walking and there was a 16-year-old girl. She called out to me, she's like, ‘oh Fleur’. And I said, ‘yeah’. And she said, ‘oh, can my mum and I get a photo with you, we love you’. I sort of said, ‘really’, she's like, ‘oh my gosh, we love watching you. It's so cool’.

“Moments like that when you sort of think, it is important, and representation matters. It's not something that I think about daily, and but it is important.

“I feel really, really proud that young females out there or adult women, it doesn't matter…having the courage and confidence and belief and seizing those opportunities, and hopefully more of those will open up for women in the NBL.”