Melissa Bissonnette joins the Wheelock College Women's Basketball staff for the 2011-12 season. 

Bissonnette's experience with coaching fundamental basketball is extensive, especially at the youth level.

Bissonnette worked at the Hampshire Regional YMCA as the Youth Basketball League Director (YBL) for the past two years. This included directing a ten team youth basketball league for ages 7-17 and managing a twelve person coaching staff and multiple volunteering staff. She also coached individual teams during the season as well.  She helped young players strengthen their basketball skills, while heightening their enthusiasm for the game. The YBL pre-season created a fun program, while emphasizing valuable basketball skills, sportsmanship, team play, and participation.

The Boston native also directed and coached all-year-round individual basketball classes at the Hampshire Regional YMCA.  She created the HRYMCA's  first ever all girls basketball class for ages 7-12, so that young women could learn important fundamentals like ball handling, passing drills, and proper shooting technique in a safe judgment free area. The class grew to over 20 participants in just its second session and has since grown remarkably. 

Bissonnette was also the Athletic Director for summer basketball camps at Thunder Cats Sports. This included instructing children 5-16 on valuable basketball knowledge and developing and harnessing their skills.

In addition to her duties as an Assistant Basketball Coach at Wheelock, Bissonnette also serves as an intern in the Department of Athletics.  Bissonnette works with game management, preparing event contracts, coordinating the department's work study students, monitoring academic progress of the Wildcats student-athletes as well as maintaining Wheelock Athletics recruitment database.

She is currently working towards her Masters Degree in Sports Management through the United States Sports Academy.

Bissonnette graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a Bachelors Degree in Communications and also obtained an Associates Degree in Communications from the New England Institute of Art.

She has also obtained valuable experience working for the WEEI Red Sox Radio Network.