Deeble’s year of national excellence put on hold
GOLD Coast basketball prodigy Katie Deeble had her 2020 plans all mapped out.
The North Gold Coast Seahawks junior was set to leave her mark on the world stage, earning her place on three different junior Australian teams after commencing studies at Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence in January.
But then the global pandemic hit, denying her the chance to fly the flag for Australia and the Gold Coast at the World Cup and two age groups at the Asia Cup.
“It’s a bit devastating because it was going to be a big year but there’s nothing we can do,” Deeble said from the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.
“Hopefully they are just postponed but it’s hard to tell what will happen in this current climate.”
Deeble received a scholarship to the Centre of Excellence this year and spent only a few months at Australia’s ultimate elite basketball training ground before being sent back to the Gold Coast due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Athletes were told to pack up their rooms in anticipation of returning home anyway but a mild influenza strain ripped through the AIS and accelerated the process.
Deeble said returning home was a blessing but it wasn’t long before she caught a case of stir crazy and longed to return to Canberra.
“It was a bit frustrating (training from home) to start with,” she said.
“We got given a running and a gym program and I was trying to get down to outdoor courts as much as I could as well as doing weekly Zoom sessions with my teammates.”
Deeble has since returned to the AIS where she hopes to become the next Lauren Jackson, Liz Cambage or Penny Taylor, all graduates of the program.
“The intensity is a lot higher compared to home and we’re doing a lot of training,” the 16year-old said.
“We do about two to four hours of school a day and train every day either on the court or conditioning depending on our load.
“I’ve been down here previously for Australian development camps so I knew what it was about and I’d met quite a few of the girls before so I had a fair idea of what to expect.
“The Centre of Excellence has allowed me to develop my leadership more because I was more of a quiet person when I came down but I’ve been forced to come out of my box a little.”