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Craig Douglass enters his second season as the head coach of the Flagler College women’s basketball program. The Lady Saints posted a 9-18 overall record and a 2-6 mark in the Florida Sun Conference. This was certainly a rebuilding year with just two returning players and eight freshmen.
Prior to Flagler, Douglass served for six years as the Development Officer for the Sutherland Sharks basketball club in Australia. He was in charge of the marketing and promotions of the club along with assisting in the coaching of the teams. He also coached in the semi-pro Australian CBA Women’s Basketball League with the Sydney Comets. Douglass was also employed for six years in the Olympic Development Program (OADP), as an Intense Training Center (ITC) coach. The ITC program is a national program where scholarships are awarded to elite basketball athletes 14-18 years of age. Douglass was a coach at the Australian Junior Men’s Camp in 1996 and in the same year, he also coached with the U-18 Australian Men’s Team where he was mentored by Australia’s Olympic Team coaches. His responsibilities were to work individually with elite athletes in Sydney, a city of four million people, as well as to coach at the live-in State ITC Camps (totaling 26-30 days of live-in camp per year).
Douglass has also been instrumental in assisting many athletes to make Australia’s professional league and receive athletic scholarships in the United States. Through his work in the ITC Program he has also had the opportunity to coach one of Australia’s best women’s basketball players, Lauren Jackson, who is currently playing for the WNBA’s Seattle Storm. He coached Jackson for a couple of development seasons before she attended the Australian Institute of Sport. “I didn’t make Lauren,” said Douglass. “She was an awesome Australian talent before I coached her in the ITC. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to help her a little along the pathway towards the AIS, the Australian team and eventually the WNBA.” Jackson was selected as the WNBA Rookie of the Year in 2001 and then named the league’s Most Valuable Player in 2003.
Douglass graduated in December of 1996 from the University of Western Sydney with degrees in sport management and marketing with a major in sport psychology. In 1995-96, he was also part of an exchange program where he worked as an assistant coach at Lafayette (Ind.) Jefferson High School. Douglass attended all varsity and junior varsity practices and lived with revered high school coach Jim Hammell who has won an IHSAA State Championship. Since that time, Douglass has brought Australian teams back to Indiana and Kentucky several times, coaching against some of the best high school programs in the area.
Douglass currently resides in St. Augustine.
Contact him at (904) 819-6388 or by
email (and please remove the "nospam_"
wording from his address before you click send!)
 Hope Bell - Assistant Coach
Hope Bell is in her second season as assistant coach for the Lady Saints. She has coached at both the junior and senior high school levels as well as at the YMCA. Bell graduated from Ivy Tech State College, Muncie, Ind., with a degree in Physical Therapy Assistant. Bell earned honorable mention All-State honors as a guard at Eastern Hancock High School in Charlottesville, Ind. She also made the All-County team. Bell is a licensed physical therapist assistant at Orthopedic Associates of St. Augustine. She is married to Chris Bell, a lieutenant in the United State Navy and an assistant coach for the women’s basketball at Flagler, and has two stepsons, Connor and Zachary.
 Chris Bell - Assistant Coach
Chris Bell graduated from the University of Maryland in 1986 with a bachelor’s in finance. Bell was a starting tight end for the Terps under head coach Bobby Ross. He joined the Navy and is currently an officer with 19 years of active service. While in the Navy, Chris received his bachelor’s degree in nursing and his “Physical Fitness Specialist and Health Promotions Director” Certifications from the Cooper Institute in Dallas, Texas. He is also certified as a trainer in the U.S. Navy’s Weight Management Program. Chris has been a Command Fitness Leader in the Navy for six years.
Aaron Stewart- Student Assistant
Aaron Stewart is in his first year as a student assistant for the Lady Saints basketball program. Better known as “Stewy”, he is originally from the small town of Franklin, Ill. He resided and played high school basketball there until he moved to Palm Coast, Fla., at the beginning of the year. He is a sophomore in his second semester at Flagler College. Stewart is a sport management major with minors in psychology and business administration. He hopes to one day be a coach and an athletic director for a collegiate program.
Andy Evener - Student Assistant
Andy Evener is in his first year as a student assistant for the Flagler College women’s basketball program. A sport management major with a minor in economics, Andy has been involved in sports one way or another his entire life. He was a player/coach for a soccer team for a few years and he hopes that experience, as well as this one at Flagler, will provide a solid base for his future plans. Evener aspires to be a coach and an athletic director for a college after graduation.
Melissa Hay - Team Manager
Melissa Hay is in her third season as team manager for the Lady Saints. Her duties will consist of keeping the scorebook for road and home games, making sure the players stay hydrated during practice and in games and help Coach Douglass with the day-to-day running of the basketball office. In high school, she managed the men’s volleyball, men’s basketball and men’s soccer teams for two years each and enjoys working with sports teams. An elementary education major, Melissa is a native of Naples, Italy.
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