Going into your first senior national team camp can be intimidating at any age.
But for 15-year-old Talyn Reedy, last week’s Australian Gliders camp in Melbourne was far less daunting than she expected.
“I feel very honoured,” Reedy said.
“Coming into something this big, I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot to get here because it was hard.”
Despite being the youngest athlete in camp, Reedy said the welcoming environment immediately helped settle her nerves.
“It’s such a supportive group,” she said.
“I don’t think I’ve actually felt awkward or uncomfortable at all.
“Everyone’s super helpful and really nice and I know I can sit and have a laugh with anyone.”
Reedy’s journey to the Gliders program has progressed quickly.
After first taking up wheelchair basketball around the age of 10, multiple surgeries temporarily pulled her away from the sport and left her questioning whether she would return at all.
“I had five surgeries and stopped playing for ages,” Reedy said.
“I kept saying, ‘I’m not doing it, I can’t play basketball.’”
But encouragement from her family eventually brought her back to the court, with Reedy returning to the sport through Macarthur Heat in Minto, New South Wales.
Her return to basketball soon turned into something much bigger, helped along by a clever move from her mum, Emma.
“I thought I was just going to a normal basketball training,” Reedy laughed.
“But Mum had actually signed me up to try out for the State Performance Program.”
Now, just a few years later, she finds herself training alongside Paralympians and some of the country’s most experienced athletes.
“I wasn’t nervous before coming here at all,” Reedy said.
“When I found out Jez [Jeremy Synot] was coaching, I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’ll be so fine.’”
Reedy said one of the biggest highlights of camp has been the connections she has continued to build within the Gliders program.
That includes reuniting and rooming with fellow young gun Ebony Stevenson, who she says quickly became one of her closest basketball friends after the pair met in Perth during a WNWBL trip.
She has also formed a strong bond with long-time Gliders representative Hannah Dodd, who is currently playing professionally in Wiesbaden, Germany with the Rhine River Rhinos.
“Before she [Dodd] went to Germany, we were doing one-on-one sessions together working on chair skills, defence and offence,” Reedy said.
“She really cares about me and she’s such a good role model. She’s a weapon on the court, but she’s also just a really good person.
“I call her my second Mum,” she laughed.
Reedy is just one of several emerging athletes beginning to make their mark within the Gliders program, with Queensland teenager Maddie Kelton also experiencing her first Gliders camp after progressing through the pathways with the Gold Coast Rollers and Queensland junior programs.
Kelton said the opportunity to be surrounded by senior athletes and staff had already made a major impact on her.
“For me, camp is a huge opportunity to learn, grow and continue developing my game,” Kelton said.
“It’s also been a great chance to build connections within the group.”
Kelton said hearing stories from experienced Gliders like Shelley Matheson and Sarah Vinci had reinforced the level of commitment required to succeed at the highest level.
“It shows the level of dedication, resilience and passion it takes to be a Glider,” she said.
“I’m reminded that success doesn’t happen overnight. It comes from training and commitment through the highs and lows.”
Matheson said Kelton had made an immediate impression during her first Gliders camp with her attitude, work ethic and willingness to learn.
“It was really exciting to have Maddie come into camp and I was so impressed by the way she approached everything,” Matheson said.
“There were definitely moments where concepts and systems were completely new to her, but she never took a backwards step.
“She was super respectful of the athletes who have been in the program for a long time, but she also wasn’t afraid to compete and back herself, which is exactly what you want in a national team environment.”
Matheson, who made her own Gliders debut as a teenager, said the current national team environment had evolved significantly over the years.
“When I first came into the team, the age gap between the younger players and the senior athletes was huge,” she said.
“This group has done a really good job of making the younger athletes feel like they belong, because they do belong.
“They’re coming into the program with a really strong understanding of the game thanks to the pathways and coaches around the country, and that’s only going to continue strengthening the depth of the Gliders program moving forward.”
Both Reedy and Kelton are preparing for the upcoming 2026 WNWBL season with the Sydney University Lions and Gold Coast Rollers respectively, while continuing to soak up as much knowledge as possible from the experienced Gliders group around them.
For Reedy, the long-term dream is already firmly in sight.
“Brisbane 2032,” she said.
