New adventure awaits Jannik
Since returning home to Horsham in November last year, Jannik Blair has made the most of an opportunity to spend time with his family, catch up with mates and live the somewhat relaxed life of a lad in his mid 20s.
It’s an experience many would take for granted, but when you’ve spent the better part of a decade committed to the life of an elite sportsman, it is a time worth savouring.
Blair, 25, debuted for the Australian men’s national wheelchair basketball team in 2009 and was a member of Australia’s silver medal-winning team at the 2012 Summer Paralympics.
He has spent the past five years playing wheelchair basketball in the United States while completing a degree in international business at the University of Alabama.
After graduating in May last year, Blair competed for Australia at the Rio Paralympics before returning home to the Wimmera.
He is now preparing for his next challenge – a move to Europe to play wheelchair basketball professionally.
Blair calls it ‘the natural progression of the wheelchair basketball world’.
“A lot of players who want to get a degree go play college ball in America, which is what I did,” he said.
“If you want to try to make a career out of it and make some money, the highest-paid leagues are in Europe – Germany, Italy, Spain.
“I had a couple of inquiries the past couple of years while I was at college but I wasn’t able to accept any of them because I was still going to school.”
Blair continued to receive offers after graduation.
“I thought about going immediately after Rio but we had just had a pretty rough tournament,” he said.
“We came sixth and motivation was low-ish.
“Rio was in September and the European league would have started pretty much straight after.
“I decided at that point to take the year off and come back and spend the summer in Horsham, which is something I hadn’t done in five or six years since I first went to college in America.
“I got to come home a lot during my four or five years at college, but it was always just visiting.
“You’d catch up with a few people and head back.
“This time I’ve been able to do a few boys trips, see a bit of the country and enjoy the festival season, which is something pretty unique to Australia.
“It was good to get to enjoy a long block of my mid 20s and not have to worry about a strict training regime.
“I probably won’t have that experience of an Aussie summer again until I’m in my mid 30s and it will be a different experience.”
New contract
After ticking that item off his bucket list, Blair is preparing for the next one.
After fielding several offers from French, Italian and Spanish teams, Blair signed with Bidaideak Bilbao BSR in the Spanish Wheelchair Basketball League about six weeks ago.
He will leave Australia at the end of August to play a tournament in Toyko with the Australian men’s team.
From there he will head to Europe and spend some time with family in Denmark before settling into Bilbao, an industrial port city in northern Spain.
“We start playing in mid-october so I’ll have a few weeks to get the lay of the land and maybe learn a bit of Spanish,” Blair said.
The Spanish league runs from mid-october to the end of May.
“There are a couple of postseason European tournaments depending on where you place in the Spanish league,” Blair said.
“With the contract I signed, there are a lot of bonuses depending on where you place in those post-season tournaments as well.
“I have an eight-month contract and after that I’ll look to re-sign, or potentially move to another club.”
Challenge
Blair said he looked forward to the European format as a departure from the tournamentbased competitions he was used to.
“Over there you play your game on Saturday then have your recovery and debrief and then start preparing for the coming week,” he said.
“In Australia we play against the same guys each year and it’s like a small community, but over there, you face a different team each week.
“The standard of the leagues in Europe is strong, particularly in Spain and you have to find a way to beat each team on the given day.
“In my first year in particular there will be a lot of learning. It is the best environment to be in if you want to keep improving.”
Blair said he was excited about the challenge awaiting him.
“When you’re being paid to do something you have to do your job or you have people to answer to,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to that environment, learning to play with a lot more pressure.
“If all goes to plan I’d like to be there for the next five to 10 years.”
Blair thanked Horsham Amateur Basketball Association leaders for allowing him to train at the basketball stadium during his time at home.
“They were great, providing me with a key so I have access to it whenever it isn’t being used,” he said.
“It’s made my training schedule here really easy and flexible and I’m grateful.”