FROM dominating the Victoria and Australia juniors in the pathways, to winning a championship and being a bright star in the NBL1 competition, Rebecca Pizzey believes she has got more to offer in the WNBL in the future.

Pizzey opened up firstly what got her into playing basketball, reflecting on her journey and challenges faced along the way.

“I actually started with netball, because my mum was a netballer but my brother wanted to start playing basketball and obviously I didn’t want to be left out so I said ‘Mum, I want to play basketball as well please’,” Pizzey said. “I always liked ball sports when I was tall as a kid. It worked out pretty well. I’ve had a lot of fun doing it and that’s the main thing”.

“I still feel like I’m relatively young and we’ll see where I get to and what happens, but I’m pretty proud of everything that I’ve achieved so far. It definitely hasn’t been easy and there’s been lots of highs and lows but I think I’ve been positive throughout the whole experiences. It’s always kind of seeing the best of the bright side, it is a big thing and I’m pretty proud”.

“I’ve had a few challenges along my way, a couple of injuries and a couple of teams. The main one that sticks out to me was the under 16 state team. I was top age and I didn’t make the team and I was really disappointed with that. So, then the next team was under 18’s and I was bottom age and I made that team for Victoria Metro”.

“We won the gold medal (at the Under-17 World Championships) and I had my shoulder surgery booked two days after we got home, but to pull through that tournament was something really, really special”.

Vic Metro/Australia experience, Vic basketball pathway, and the road to WNBL

After succeeding representing Victoria Metro and Australia, Pizzey shares her experiences representing Victoria and Australia, the strong pathways within Victoria and Pizzey’s journey coming into the WNBL competition.

“I loved playing for Victoria. It’s not something that I took lightly at all. I also missed out on one of the tournaments because I had my shoulder injury, but I loved the family vibes that had about it. There was a few girls I played with and we all had each other’s back and we were really good friends, it’s like a sisterhood kind of thing. That meant a lot to me. To then get the wins and a couple of national championships was a very rewarding thing for all the hard work we put in”.

“I always watched the WNBL competition when I was younger, but I never really took basketball too seriously. Up until when I took part in the under 16 team, which is when I learnt to take it a little more seriously and work if it’s something you really want to do”.

“I love to play for fun and it doesn’t really worry me whether I score or not. I like to play hard and do the little things. It puts everybody in a better mood, which puts me in a better mood. That’s one of the things you learn. I personally would rather my teammates to be successful”.

“It comes back to you. I think that’s what I’ve learnt, to play very selflessly. If you have a few people that play like that on your team, it’s very hard to stop. The pathways are incredible and it’s good to see lots of young people get opportunities and having the hub last year, where we could take more players up to Queensland was really good because we could get more exposure to people and play a lot more consistently and get more people to watch it. The pathways are only going to get stronger and there’s lots of girls going over to college at the moment that will come back and flourish in the WNBL. It’s very exciting times for basketball”.

How the WNBL competition has helped Pizzey’s game, development of WNBL, reflection of season with the Flames and being coached by Shane Heal and Shelley Gorman

Pizzey shares how the WNBL has helped about her game, her opinion of the WNBL competition, season playing with the Flames, the opportunity to be coached by Shane Heal and Shelley Gorman and staying motivated as a team.  

“I think Jenna (O’Hea) is one of the main people that I’ve tried to take things from her game that I really like. I try and take something from everybody’s game and that’s come across, whether that’s a guard or a big (centre). I kind of take a few things from people and try and implement them to myself. I think it’s a good way to go about not only basketball but life aswell”.

“People come out and watch the games because there’s so many amazing female role models that everybody can look up to and be inspired by. I love the double-headers, I think it’s a great idea. It’s really good to have the men’s team (such as the Sydney Kings) and have a partnership”.

“In terms of playing in the NBL1 in the 2022 season, I’ve signed with a team, not sure if I’m allowed to say, but I’ve signed with a team down in Melbourne, which is very exciting to head home and head back there and that will be good”.

“We (Flames) go into each game, knowing we have a chance to knock off anyone really, we know that we have a chance to take them down and get the win. We always believe in ourselves and as long as we go out there, play really hard and play our style of game, we will eventually come out and get the win and hold our head high.”

“Shane and Shelley both have a wealth of knowledge. The fact that they are both ex-players helps us massively. They both bring such different things to the table. I’ve really enjoyed their coaching this season.”

“The season’s halfway done, which is kind of scary. I just want to end on a good note, get on a roll and get some wins. I’m not sure if we can, but we definitely would like to make finals. If not, I’d like to mess about with a few of the top teams, that would be ideal. Certainly we’d like to get on a roll with the girls and play a fun style of basketball where we can play for each other, set good screens, get rebounds and play my role. That’s one of the things I would like to do.”

“It’s the group of girls. We have such a great group, everybody’s there for each other and we’ve all been through the highs and the lows this season and there’s been lots of things happening. I love playing with the group of girls that we’ve got, we have each other’s backs. I think that’s an important thing when building team culture”.

Balance outside of football, pre-game rituals, favourite place to play, coping during tough times and playing in a team environment.

Pizzey shares her balance off the court, what she enjoys doing in her time, pre-game rituals and favourite places to play games at.

“At the moment, I’m not studying as I’ve had to defer for six months to come up to Sydney. I’m currently studying physiotherapy at La Trobe University. I’ve got my placements coming up when I get home, which is quite exciting. I have a couple of placements and I’m really excited to do those. Last year was very full on for me, in regards to uni. There was some days I would leave home at six in the morning and not get home till eight at night and had to do that, pretty much the whole week, which was a lot, not getting home till 10, after an eight o’clock training. It get a lot but it’s really cool to learn all this stuff and it kind of relates to basketball.”

“I don’t really have any superstitions or anything like that. Coffee is definitely needed before a game, especially if it’s a late game. If it’s a 7pm game, I do try and have a little nap or something, because I go to bed quite early. But other than that, there’s nothing that I necessarily have to do. If I do too much, I’m just going to overthink about the game.”

Coping strategies after a tough game, best part being in a tough environment and toughest opponents to play against

Pizzey shares her strategies and what she does if she’s having a tough game, best part being in a team environment and tough opponents she’s faced.

“In terms of strategies, during the game, I take a breath and remind myself to focus on the next play. If I’m at home or had a bad training or game or something like that, I like to remove myself from the basketball situation and try to find something else that I like doing or immerse myself.”

“I probably could not play an individual sport. All the Victorian and Australian junior teams I was on, as much as I remember the result, I remember the people I was there with and made connections that last lifetimes. That’s probably one of my favourite things about playing a team sport is having friends all over Australia and friends for life.”

“In my current team, I dislike playing against Kalani Purcell. She does everything and makes high IQ plays. I’ll be like I think she does not get enough credit for what she does. Jenna and Kalani are similar players, so I like that about them. They both have had heaps of international exposure which is obviously helped their game and they bring that back here and it’s really good to learn from them.”

Meaning of the sport of basketball and role models

Pizzey shares what the sport of basketball means to her and role models she looks up to.

“Basketball means a lot to me, considering it’s now my career. If you asked when I was growing up, it would be playing for a bit of fun, but now, I definitely play for fun, in a more serious element to it. There’s that desire to do really well and kind of show everybody what we’ve got.”

“I don’t have one person that I look up to because I like to take something from everybody that I meet. I feel like everybody you meet is in your life for a reason that can teach you a lesson and I like to take the good things from different people. Obviously, Jenna is one of my role models, she’s got lots for me. I don’t think I have a specific person but I like to take the little things from everybody that I come across.”

Lastly, Pizzey shares her best piece of advice for any upcoming basketballers wanting to improve their game.

“Don’t worry about scoring. Don’t base a good game off whether you score or not, base the game off whether you gave 100% and did the little things for the team.”