Overview
Natalie Hurst (born 8 April 1983) is an Australian basketball player. She played junior basketball in Canberra and went on to play for the Canberra Capitals in the WNBL. With the Capitals, she won league championships in 1999/2000, 2001/2002, 2002/2003, 2005/2006, 2006/2007, 2008/2009 and 2009/2010. In 2011/2012, she played for the French club, Aix en Provence. She is a member of the Australia women's national basketball team, with her first national team cap in 2009. She won a gold medal in 2009 at the FIBA Oceania Women's Championships. She is a member of the 2012 national team.
Personal
Hurst was born on 8 April 1983 in the Australian Capital Territory. She is tall.
Basketball
Hurst is a guard, She played junior basketball in Canberra. in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) where she was the team's star player. She appealed the decision. She helped guide her team to a QBL championship, the first in the team's history.
WNBL
Hurst has played for the Canberra Capitals and was with the team for the 1999/2000, 2000/2001, 2001/2002, 2002/2003, 2005/2006, 2006/2007, 2007/2008, 2008/2009, and 2009/2010 seasons. Her team won the WNBL Grand Final in 2001/2002, 2002/2003, 2005/2006, 2006/2007, 2008/2009 and 2009/2010. During the 2006/2007 regular season, Hurst averaged 8.9 points per game. She played in a game against the Sydney Uni Flames in October 2007 that her team lost 112–102. In a January 2008 63–57 win for the Capitals against the Dandenong Rangers, she scored 20 points. She had a calf injury in early 2009 and missed three games. In a late January 2009 game against the AIS which Canberra won 99–72, she scored 15 points. In a January 2009 game against the Logan Thunder that Canberra won 76–53, she scored 11 points.
Europe
She signed with the French club, Aix en Provence in 2011 In a September 2011 game, she scored 7 points in the third quarter against Villeneuve d'Ascq. She finished the game with 24 points, 4 rebounds, and 8 assists. Her team lost the game 91–94, the third game of the regular season.
National team
Hurst was a member of the 2009 Australian women's senior national team She played in the third game and was expected to step up because Alicia Poto was injured. On 2 September 2009, she played in the Canberra hosted return game against New Zealand in the Oceania Championship. She won a gold medal in 2009 at the FIBA Oceania Women's Championships. She was named to the 2012 Opals. She missed the first training camp in March 2012 for the 2012 Summer Olympics campaign because she was playing club basketball in Europe. She was scheduled to participate in the national team training camp held from 14 to 18 May 2012 at the Australian Institute of Sport. Hurst has played 17 games for Australia's junior national team. She played her first international representing Australia in 2003, though she was part of the 2000 and 2001 Australia women's national under-19 team called the Gems.
In 2007, she represented Australia at the World University Games where she earned a gold medal.
Coaching career
Hurst served as assistant coach of the Adelaide Lightning in the WNBL between 2020 and 2022. She was elevated to head coach in May 2022 In July 2025, Hurst was appointed lead assistant coach of the UC Capitals for the 2025–26 WNBL season.