When teen Aussie wheelchair basketball starlet Ebony Stevenson found out she’d be part of the 3X3 Wombats at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, her first reaction was elation at the opportunity to represent her country.
To wear the green and gold was justification for the blood, sweat and tears the 16-year-old had put into her craft and excitement at achieving a personal goal.
It didn’t take long for that to grow into a deep gratitude of “being part of something bigger than just myself and my sport” and a realisation of the great responsibility which came with that.
“Don’t get me wrong, there is still a big part of that (personal goals) but, due to the exposure I have had through wheelchair basketball, I know that it’s also a very important opportunity to bring visibility to our sport, help it grow as much as possible, and lay the groundwork for its future,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson, Georgia Munro-Cook and Taishar Ovens are the three debutantes on the four-woman Wombats team, which will lean on the experience of Birmingham silver medallist Hannah Dodd.
“I think we are a very strong team,” Stevenson said.
“We have a unique set of skills and strengths across all of our players, which gives us depth that is so important in 3X3 and something that other teams won’t have.
“With the experience and knowledge our coaching staff brings, I think we’re in a really good position to compete at our best and hopefully come away with a medal.”
The Wombats women are among four Aussie 3X3 teams in their gunning for gold in Glasgow.
The green and gold will blood 12 debutants across the Gangurrus and Wombats.
Evergreen veteran Jesse Wagstaff will chase a third Comm Games medal to add to his six NBL championships before he enters an 18th season in Perth — which could lift him to third on the league’s all-time games played list.
“Every time you get the chance to pull on the green and gold at a Commonwealth Games, it means something special,” Wagstaff said.
The 540-game one-club NBL veteran will captain a team featuring three men in their first Commonwealth Games competition — Brisbane Bullets defensive dynamo Sam McDaniel, former Cairns sharpshooter Jonah Antonio and Tasmania JackJumpers championship-winning big man Jarred Bairstow.
Tournament victory in the modified basketball competition would take pride of place alongside Wagstaff’s Gold Coast 2018 Comm Games gold, won in traditional five-on-five battles, and the 3X3 silver he brought home from Birmingham in 2022.
Fresh off an Australian-best silver at this year’s 3X3 World Cup, Olympians Marena Whittle and Amy Atwell and Warsaw teammate Emma Clarke have been joined by tough-as-nails tower Lara McSpadden in their quest to go one better in Glasgow.
Whittle, a noted 3X3 specialist, will hope to go one better than her silver medal in Birmingham, with help from the trio of stars in their Commonwealth Games debuts.
Paralympian Luke Pople, one of the best wheelchair ballers in the country, leads the Wombats’ defence of their 2022 Birmingham gold, supported by debutants Thomas Klein, Tom O’Neill-Thorne and Eithen Leard.
“Winning gold in 2022 was an incredible moment for us, but we’ve all kept pushing to improve and grow as a group,” Pople said.
“To have the chance to go again and represent Australia on that stage is something we don’t take for granted, and we’re excited by the challenge ahead in Glasgow.”
