A last minute call up led to a mad scramble to organise a visa for 19-year-old Catherine, who is excited to be making her international debut. 

Catherine took up wheelchair basketball after she was introduced to it at a roadshow event in Bulahdelah in her early teens. 

The Great Lakes College student had been looking for a group activity for people with disabilities. From the roadshow, she was able to connect with a Taree-based coach, Terry Mason, and a Taree wheelchair basketball team. 

“For a while I wasn’t really into it, it was just a hobby I did sometimes,” Catherine said. 

It was only in the last year or two that she seriously began training. She can often be found before and after school on the college basketball court, practicing her skills. 

Her progress as a player resulted in an offer of a position with the Sydney Uni Flames. She trains with the team when she can, which is difficult due to the distance, and in the winter the team competes against other state-based teams in a round-robin format. 

Catherine has also been part of the NSW Juniors team and this position led to her selection on the Australian squad. She attended an Australian wheelchair basketball camp in Melbourne on June 11 and 12, where her last minute selection for the China team was announced. The team left for Beijing on Sunday. 

“I wasn’t expecting it but it’s great,” Catherine said. 

“I’ve been working on being a good shooter. The majority of my training has been to try and get better at that.”

The national representatives, a team of 11 in all, will fly out of their capital cities and meet up in Singapore before heading into Beijing. 

“Friends of mine who have played in this competition before say it’s tough, so I’ll be expecting it to be pretty tough,” Catherine said. 

“I’m excited for the experience and seeing a different part of the world.”

The Australian team will be going in with high expectations, after finishing second in the last under-25s international competition in 2011. They will be taking on five other nations, Great Britain, Canada, Japan and Germany, as well host nation China for the first time, . 

It is an amazingly busy time for Catherine who, apart from her duties as an international representative, is also studying for the Higher School Certificate. 

Catherine is planning to move to Sydney after her graduation and study animation, while hopefully still playing wheelchair basketball. Her dream is to join an animation company like Pixar and animate children’s films.