User:Clyeana-Clyde/sandbox

Edward John (Ned) Coten (born 5 August, 1964) is an Australian entrepreneur, former professional athlete and the current Chairman of the Board for Basketball Australia. Born in Narrogin, Western Australia he played basketball, Australian Rules Football, tennis and cricket. He was selected to play in Basketball Western Australia’s Under 18 team in 1981, where he was drafted into Basketball Australia’s national development squad. He attended Narrogin Senior High School, winning a number of academic and sporting awards. Coten attended the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra on a basketball scholarship in 1982 and 1983. He represented Australia at the 1983 World University Games in Edmonton, Canada and at the World Championship for Junior Men later that year. He returned to Perth and played for the Perth Wildcats for part of 1984, then again in 1998 and 1989, during which time he also attained a Bachelor of Education from Curtin University. In 1990, Coten departed the Wildcats to co-found the Goldfields Giants in WA’s State Basketball League, where he was General Manager, Head Coach and player. This was the commencement of a successful career in sports management. Coten went on to become the CEO of the Perth Wildcats, Perth Breakers and Victoria Titans in Australia’s National Basketball League and served on the Boards of Basketball WA, the Women’s National Basketball League and Basketball Victoria. In 2003, Coten became a partner in a school clothing and sportswear business. He also acquired Sunshine Self Storage and made investments in property and Aged Care.

Early life
Coten spent the first five years of his life on Cattle Stations in the North West of Western Australia, where his father, John Coten was a windmill expert and station manager. Following his fathers death from a stroke, Coten moved with his mother Margaret Leishman Coten and brother Robert James (Jim) Coten to the WA wheatbelt town of Narrogin. He attended school at West Narrogin Primary School and Narrogin Senior High School, playing Australian Rules football, tennis, soccer and basketball, representing Narrogin and the Upper Great Southern region on a number of occasions. He was also a strong academic, winning a number of awards and being named a Prefect in his final year of school. Coten left Narrogin permanently after being selected to attend the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra on a two-year basketball scholarship, where he represented Australia at an international level.

Basketball career
Coten played junior basketball for the first time at the age of 13 on the outdoor bitumen courts of Narrogin. His height (6’8”, 203cms) helped him to establish himself in Narrogin’s Senior Representative team by the time he was 15. In 1981 he was selected to play for Western Australia in Basketball Australia’s National Under 18 Championships. Following this, he was awarded a scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra. He represented Australia in Universiade ’83 in Edmonton Canada and then in the World Championship for Junior Men in Majorca, Spain. In 1984 he returned to Perth and joined the Perth Wildcats team in the National Basketball League. He had limited opportunities and took up Rowing for a year, crewing for Curtin University Boat Club and winning two State titles. He applied to return to the AIS on a rowing scholarship but narrowly missed selection. Following this, Coten returned to basketball and moved to Melbourne, where he played the 1986 season with the Coburg Giants. He returned to Basketball WA’s State Basketball League with Perry Lakes Hawks and East Perth Eagles, winning the State title in 1988. In 1990, Coten co-founded the Goldfields Giants in Kalgoorlie with Charlie Fancutt, a former professional tennis player and the Kalgoorlie Basketball Association. He was the teams General Manager, Head Coach and starting 5 player. The team had a poor first year, but was highlighted by the recruitment of Paul ‘Snoopy’ Graham who left the team to play for the Atlanta Hawks in the National Basketball Association. This experience led Coten to commence a career in professional sports management, which culminated in becoming the CEO of a number of teams in basketball and football (soccer).

Personal life
Coten’s father died of a stroke when he was 5 years old. He was brought up by his mother, Margaret Leishman Coten (nee Porter) and has a younger brother, Robert James (Jim) Coten. He married Hilary Louise Shilson at a ceremony at Leeuwin Estate, Margaret River, in 1994. The couple have two children: William Lewis (born 9 June, 1996) and Andre Edward (born 28 January, 1999).

Education
Coten attended Narrogin Senior High School, graduating with awards for Physical Science, Geography and Sports Star of the Year in 1981. He earned a Batchelor of Education degree at Curtin University, graduating in 1988. In 2001 he == completed a Graduate Management Diploma and was awarded an MBA from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in 2005.

Professional life
Following his career in professional sport, Coten invested in a number of business ventures and has continued to manage those in additional to taking on a number of consulting roles. He has owned and operated businesses in school clothing, self storage, packaging design, brand strategy and career advice. In 2013 he self-published Game Plan Marketing – Why there’s never been a better time to grow your sports organisation and what to do to make it happen.

Present
Coten has investments in Self Storage, aged care, property and technology. He is the Head of Marketing at Emprevo, a technology business focussed on addressing the needs of flexible workers, who will make up over half the global workforce by 2020. He is in demand as a Consultant and is Chairman of the Board of Basketball Australia a position he was elected to in 2017, after joining the Board as a Director in 2014. He lives with his wife Hilary Louise Coten and sons William Lewis Coten and Andre Edward Coten in Glen Iris, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia.