Jacinta Anne Kennedy (née Hamilton; born 3 May 1982) is an Australian women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player, who represented the country at both junior and senior levels.FIBA Archive. 2001 World Championship for Junior Women
Jancinta Hamilton
Retrieved 2015-01-31. She most recently played for the

Dandenong Rangers The Southside Flyers are an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. The Flyers compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at the State Basketball Centre. For sponsorship pur ...

in the WNBL.

Personal life

Kennedy picked up the nickname "Little Awesome" from Melbourne's basketball writers in 1998 and is the younger sister of Lucille Hamilton.Howell, Stephen (5 December 2005)
''Little awesome Jacinta''
The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2015-01-31. Kennedy is married to Socceroo player Josh Kennedy.

Career

Kennedy commenced playing in the

Women's National Basketball League The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is a professional women's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Australia composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the Women's sports, women's counterpart to the Na ...

(WNBL) in 1999. Since then, Kennedy has played for the AIS (1999/00 to 2000/01),

Canberra Capitals The University of Canberra Capitals are an Australian professional women's basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). The team is based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. In 2014 the University of Canberr ...

(2001/02) and

(2003/04 to 2005/06), totalling 125 games. Kennedy was also selected to the

WNBL All-Star Five The All-WNBL Team is an annual Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) honour bestowed on the best performing players in the league following every WNBL season. From 1988 to 2018–19, the honour was known as the All-Star Five. As of 2020, it is ...

on two occasions; 2003/04 and 2005/06. In season 2004/05, Kennedy was awarded the Grand Final Most Valuable Player. After nine years away from the game, she returned to the game in the Rangers uniform, now playing under her marital name, Jacinta Kennedy. After the 2016/17 season, Kennedy retired from her prolonged and impressive career. At official

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

events, Kennedy played for Australia at the 2001 World Championship for Junior Women. At the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

held in Melbourne, Kennedy won a

Gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

.Howell, Stephen (24 March 2006)
''Opals ride tough defence to victory''
The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2015-01-31.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Jacinta 1982 births Living people Australian women's basketball players Australian Institute of Sport basketball (WNBL) players Canberra Capitals players Dandenong Rangers players Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games gold medallists in basketball Basketball players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Forwards (basketball) Centers (basketball) Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Basketball players from Melbourne Sportswomen from Victoria (state) 21st-century Australian sportswomen