Kilpatrick will take over from Gareth Hiscock, who took the side to a grand final berth last season. The Horsham Hornets men’s side will continue to be coached by Cam Bruce in its title defence.

Kilpatrick said he had been preparing to coach the Lady Hornets for the past two seasons.

“Gareth was looking to step down and we had spoken about it before but I wanted to play a bit more myself,” he said.

“I also hadn’t coached women’s basketball, so I spent the last two seasons coaching the under-16s girls. That gave me some experience before CBL.

“I think my playing days are done. I’ll do some training and be available but we have some young guys coming through. If they’re short and need someone to sit on the bench with some height I’ll be available for that.”

The Lady Hornets have been training for a month and have had an influx of numbers. 

“We have 17 on our list and have been getting 14 to training,” he said. “We’ve only lost one from last year’s list and gained nine new faces. Out of the 17 I think 11 or 12 are under the age of 20.”

Kilpatrick said it was an easy decision for Bruce to stay on as Hornets coach. 

“Cam is locked in for coaching and they kick off training in a couple of weeks. He applied for the position straight away and always wanted to coach,” he said.