Townsville’s Charlton on success path Mum keeps young star on his toes
had an extended period back home.
And he is not letting a minute go to waste, working on his passing, shooting and positioning drills with his mum, and Townsville Flames legend, Bridgette Offermans coaching his moves.
“I am really spending a lot of this time with Mum and trying to learn from her. She is always with me in the afternoons, every day she will teach me a couple of moves,” he said.
“She has always wanted me to have fun and enjoy – lately I have been thinking I do love this and after I get my degree I wouldn’t mind trying to push forward – try and travel and make a career out of it.
“She is really pushing me and wants me to do well, she wants me to get better on the court.
“As much as (coronavirus) sucks, I love it. The thought of coming back home, I have had a good month with my mum. I haven’t got to spend much time with family over the past five years. I usually get a solid two months at home between (US college) seasons, but being home for four or five months, I have a really good chance to spend time with family and reconnect.”
It is also a chance for the young point guard to put in the groundwork for a potential career down the line.
While he has dreams of playing professionally in Europe and around the world, at the top of Offermans’s list is coming home and representing the town he grew up in.
But he also hasn’t ruled out a sporting code switch, and returning to the grass ovals with a Sherrin in his hands.
While he tore up the court as a young player, Offermans was also a talented ruck rover for the Thuringowa Bulldogs. It was the first sport he moved away from home for, taking up an opportunity with the Gold Coast Suns academy five years ago.
The path from the US college basketball system to the AFL has become well worn in recent years, and Offermans would be happy to follow in the footsteps of his idols. “One of my big sporting heroes Hugh Greenwood, he plays in the AFL at the moment, but he played college basketball for a few years at New Mexico,” Offermans said.
“He returned to Australia and is now playing in the AFL. He played a heap of games for Adelaide and is now signed to my club the Suns.
“When you see guys like that, it makes you realise you still have an opportunity to do that.
“There are skills that transfer from the basketball court. Maybe not the kicking and handballing, but the size, agility and jumping. It all goes across.”
Offermans has not lost his love for Aussie rules, and instead has gone about introducing it into the heart of Middle America.
“Most days I am out there kicking a footy with my roommates,” he said. “When I go back in August it is the middle of the AFL finals. I have that on the TV and they are forced to watch with me. I think I have made a few extra fans.”