SINGING PRAISES OF SIBLINGS
TIAYANA “TJ” Sing is only 14, but already dreams of playing college basketball in America.
She is daring to dream big because her brothers, Steven, 18, and Jordan, 16, also have high aims in the sport.
All three played in the Darwin Basketball senior grand finals last Saturday night – Jordan and Steven in Eagles’ 88-74 loss to the Uni Rebels, and Tiayana in the Rebels’ 73-66 loss to Tracy Village Jets.
“TJ’s got big dreams of going down south to school, and she eventually wants to go to America for college,” her mother , Stacey, said.
Playing against her taller and stronger brothers from a young age allowed Tiayana to instantly excel when she first tried her hand at organised basketball in Darwin.
“When we were younger, I always wanted to be like Steven, and playing against bigger bodies helped me develop as a player,” she said.
“After I won that (the MVP in my first season of basketball) I wanted to keep playing and get better.”
Tiayana is off to compete at the Australian Junior Championships, in Perth starting July 8, with the Northern Territory under-16 girls’ team.
She only needs to look at the work ethic of her brothers for inspiration.
“Those two are outside pretty much everyday. If they’re not outside they’re normally in here (at the DBA Sta- dium) training,” Tiayana said.
“With nationals coming up for me, I’m training every day.”
The Sing siblings held their own in their grand finals, and it all started years ago in their Humpty Doo backyard.
“As soon as we’d get home from school we were outside, sometimes until the sun had gone,” Steven said.
Jordan added: “It was tough. We were just trying to develop our skills to beat him (Steven),” he said.
The tall 16-year-old talent said all three would support each other in their efforts to pursue basketball at a higher level down south.
“Nothing against Darwin, but we’d love to go somewhere where the basketball is a bit more professional,” he said.
“With the scouts down there, hopefully one of them will see us.”
Jordan said the siblings were constantly pushed by their father, James, a former NTFL premiership winner with the Darwin Buffaloes.