by Patty Mills
‘And did anyone get eaten?’ Tyson asked.
‘The sharks started moving faster and I thought my uncle and cousin were goners for sure. But they made it to the boat just in time. One of the sharks took a bite out of my cousin’s flipper. Missed his toes by less than two centimetres.’
‘That is crazy!’ Bruce yelled. A moment later, we all shut up when we heard someone walking towards our room.
‘No chatting,’ Coach Clarke said. ‘You need to rest up if you want to do better in our next game!’
Everyone was silent after that, and I could finally get some sleep.
THE DINING HALL of the boarding college felt huge and empty, even with the entire Canberra team eating breakfast in it. Everyone was quiet as we ate our cereal and toast. I thought about how noisy it must get when the school’s boarders shuffled into the hall for their breakfast.
We were all excited piling onto the bus. We headed back towards the city, the driver taking us across the Sydney Harbour Bridge so that we could take in the view across to the Opera House, the ferries, and Luna Park.
Finally, the bus parked near a wharf. ‘I know this place,’ Riley said.
‘What is it?’ I asked.
‘It’s the Sydney Aquarium,’ she answered, her eyes bright with excitement.
I felt at home as soon as I spotted the huge floor-to-ceiling tank full of tropical fish.
Tyson grabbed me by the arm. ‘Come and check this out, Patty.’
He led me into a huge tube with water all around it that made me feel like I was on the bottom of the ocean.
‘Check them out,’ Tyson said, but there was no way that I could miss the massive reef sharks gliding towards us.
‘Man, your uncle and cousin were lucky to get away that day,’ Tyson said.
The whole team stood watching the sharks, stingrays, turtles and giant fish for ages. It was a smaller tank that fascinated me most though.
I sat in front of it, mesmerised by the octopuses unfurling their tentacles and changing colour, camouflaging themselves as they moved between rock, reef and plants in their tank.
‘Come on, Patty,’ Coach Clarke said. ‘It’s time for lunch.’
In the afternoon we went swimming in the surf at Bondi Beach. And as I drifted off to sleep that night, without Tyson trying to scare us with spooky stories, I thought about the reef sharks and the octopuses.
I remembered Dad telling me that Uncle Sam wore the number eight on his jersey because an octopus has eight arms and Uncle Sam wished he had eight arms when he was playing basketball. I knew exactly how he felt.
I slept well that night, which was lucky because we were playing two games the next day. I made sure to strap my ankle.
When we were travelling to the stadium, Luke asked, ‘How are we going to play better than our last game?’
‘Yeah, I don’t want to get thrashed again,’ Tyson said.
‘We can play better than we did against Northern Beaches, for starters.’
‘Obviously,’ Tyson said, rolling his eyes.
‘What I mean is that we had a bad game. We’re better than that.’
‘But what if we’re five minutes into the game and getting thrashed again?’ Tyson asked. I noticed that Matthew, Bruce, Josh and Jamie were all listening. I thought about what Coach Clarke would say. ‘We don’t let it rattle us. Stay confident, and focus on good communication and timing.’
I might have told my teammates to be confident, but when I entered the stadium and saw the other teams, I wondered if there were any among them that we might be able to beat.
AS WE WERE warming up, Coach Clarke called me aside. ‘How’s your ankle feeling, Patty?’
‘It’s fine,’ I told him, ‘but I’m nervous. We’re all worried about getting thrashed again.’
Coach Clarke looked around and said, ‘All these teams look strong – but they don’t know what we’re capable of.’
‘And we don’t know what they’re capable of,’ I answered.
‘That’s where self-belief is most important. You guys know what you can do, you just need to make it happen on the court. Even when you’re down, you need to believe that you can turn the game around.’ I nodded. ‘Patty, I want you to set the example for your teammates.’
THE WESTERN SYDNEY WARRIORS were tall and solid, even towering over Matthew. They were our age, but they looked like full-grown men. Their point guard was the only player on the team that was about my size.
Their centre won the tip-off and before we knew it they were eight points ahead. It felt like our first game of the tournament all over again. But when I looked over to Coach Clarke, he looked relaxed. He just nodded, reminding me of what I had to do.
When I made the first shot I heard Coach Clarke yell from the bench, ‘Yes, Patty!’
Luke patted me on the back and said, ‘Nice one, bala.’
‘Let’s be strong in defence now, Canberra,’ I told my teammates. But within minutes, Western Sydney had scored again.
Coach Clarke called a timeout. Before the coach could speak, Matthew said, ‘They’re like sharks!’
‘So, we need to distract them, don’t we?’ Tyson replied. ‘Like Patty’s uncle when the sharks were after his cousin.’
Coach Clarke looked confused, but glad that our spirits were up. He quickly instructed us. ‘You need to create space to receive passes and make clear shots, and apply as much pressure as possible in defence.’
We started scoring, but the Western Sydney Warriors still beat us by ten points.
After Coach Clarke had talked with us about our game, we ate lunch in the cafeteria. Josie reported that her team had won easily. She’d scored sixteen points. I felt like my team was letting Canberra down.
I turned to Coach Clarke and asked, ‘Can we work on a few things before our next game?’
‘What things?’ he asked.
I’d been thinking about the difference between the Shadows and our Canberra team. Sure, we ran fast breaks when there was opportunity, but we weren’t running set plays. I knew that I had to talk with my team about strategy – but that meant giving away secrets about the set plays I ran with the Shadows. I’d have to work on all new set plays when I played against my Canberra teammates during the club season!
I decided that I’d speak to Luke, Josie and Riley to see what they thought. If they were happy for me to share the set plays, I’d get everyone practising them back at the boarding college.
AS MUCH AS I WANTED to get started teaching my teammates the set plays, we still had one more game that day, and not much time before it started. I decided to put a bit more effort into encouraging my teammates by speaking to them all individually.
‘Forget about our last two games,’ I told Manu and Matthew.
‘All that matters is how we play this game.’
‘We both need to run as hard as we can,’ I told Tyson.
‘We’ve got this one, bala,’ I said with confidence to Luke as he took a moment to size up the Sydney players.
Luke scratched his head. ‘They look like men.’
‘Can you beat your dad at one on one?’ I asked him.
‘Yeah,’ he said with a nod and a smile.
‘Well, let’s go.’ We tapped fists.
COACH CLARKE WALKED WITH US under the basket and said, ‘If we can win this one, we still stand a chance of making the finals. If we lose, tomorrow is going to be a very tough day. Patty, Tyson, Manu, Matthew and Luke, you guys are starting.’
‘We can do this,’ I yelled and then we all slapped each other on the back and walked into the centre for the tip-off.
We were all jostling for position when the referee was preparing to toss the ball. Seeing the determination on Matthew’s face, Tyson and I knew to drop back a little. Sure enough, Matthew tapped the ball straight down to me.
We played like a different team. When the defence was tight everyone ran to get the pass, and Matthew set some great screens, making it possible for us to take the ball to the
basket.
I was so relieved watching the last few seconds click down on the clock. When the buzzer went, we were ten points ahead. We all went nuts in celebration.
COACH CLARKE LED US OUT of the stadium and sat us down beneath the shade of a big old gum tree.
‘You fellas really got it together against Sydney,’ he said. ‘You looked out for each other and were confident in your own ability. And you just beat the team that looked like they were going to be the strongest in the tournament.’
‘You mean they beat Northern Beaches and Western Sydney?’ Manu asked.
‘They did, which means if you win your games tomorrow, you’re through to the finals.’
‘Yes!’ I said, punching the air. Finally I wasn’t regretting that I hadn’t just flown to the Torres Strait with Mum and Dad.
‘Come on, let’s go and cheer the girls on,’ Coach Clarke instructed.
As everyone shot back into the stadium, Coach pulled me aside. ‘Patty, I can see that you’re hobbling around out there.’
I had been so excited by our win, I hadn’t really noticed the pain in my ankle. But now that Coach Clarke brought it up, I realised he was right. I wasn’t sure exactly when I’d started limping, but something definitely wasn’t right.
I knew what that meant. ‘But Coach, I’m fine!’ I said, knowing he wouldn’t be convinced.
‘I’m sorry mate, but I’m going to have to sit you out for a couple of days.’
My heart sank to my feet. What was the point of coming to Sydney if I couldn’t even play?
Coach Clarke could see how upset I was. ‘I understand how you feel, Patty. But you need to look after that ankle, or you could do permanent damage. If you take good care of it and rest up – and if we make it to the finals – you could still get back in the game.’
WATCHING JOSIE PLAY cheered me up a bit. She swished two three-pointers in a row and Tyson said, ‘That’s how you do it.’
‘If your hand is hot, keep shooting them,’ Coach Clarke said. ‘Don’t be afraid to have a go.’
On the bus ride back to the boarding house, Tyson sat next to me and said, ‘I don’t know what you did today, but you made us play like a team.’
‘It was because everyone believed in themselves – it didn’t have much to do with me.’
‘But you helped us believe in ourselves, Patty,’ he said.
‘Lucky everyone has the skills to back it up.’
We sat in silence for a while. Finally Tyson said, ‘Number eight is your number, isn’t it, Patty?’
‘I wear it for the Shadows.’
‘You wear it at school too,’ he pointed out.
‘It was my Uncle Sam’s number. He always said he wished he had eight arms when he played.’
Tyson unzipped his backpack, pulled out his number eight jersey and asked, ‘Want to swap? You can have it.’
Tyson handed me the number eight jersey. ‘We need you to have eight arms tomorrow, Patty.’
I still hadn’t told my teammates that I was benched. I wasn’t sure how.
I CALLED MUM AND DAD when we got back to the boarding house.
‘How’s it going?’ Dad asked.
‘Not too bad,’ I said. But my voice wasn’t convincing.
‘What’s wrong, Patty?’ Mum asked.
‘Coach Clarke is benching me for the next couple of games.’
‘Because of your ankle?’
‘It’s not that sore,’ I said.
‘Well it must be sore enough for Coach Clarke to bench you,’ Mum said.
‘It’s not fair,’ I said. ‘I can’t play basketball, we’ve only won one of three games, and I can’t be there with you.’
‘There’s got to be some way that you can still help your team, Patty,’ Dad said.
‘From the bench?’ I asked.
‘Helping your teammates doesn’t only happen on the court,’ Mum said. ‘I’m sure you’ll think of something.’
‘And don’t worry, Patty, you’ll be with us before you know it,’ Dad told me before we said goodbye.
After we’d lined up to get our dinner I sat with Luke and waved Josie and Riley over to sit with us.
‘What’s up, bala?’ Josie asked when they sat down.
‘Coach Clarke told me I have to sit a couple of games out because of my ankle.’
‘Oh no,’ Luke said.
‘And our team isn’t as strong as yours, Josie.’
‘But resting your ankle is the most important thing,’ she reminded me.
‘I don’t have much choice. But we need something else up our sleeve if we’re going to have any chance of making the grand final,’ I told them.
‘Like what?’ Josie asked.
‘I was hoping to show our team some of our Shadows set plays, or at least some signals so that people know where to move on the court.’
‘Yeah, that’d be good,’ Luke said. I thought he’d be on board – he wanted to win as badly as I did.
Josie shook her head. ‘But then Tyson and everyone will know our tactics when we start playing against them during the club season.’
I nodded while looking each of my Shadows teammates in the eye. ‘That’s what I’m worried about too,’ I said, ‘and why I’m asking you guys first. I just figure if I didn’t do this I wouldn’t be doing my best for Canberra.’
Josie shovelled some salad into her mouth as she sat thinking.
Riley broke the silence. ‘I know what you can do. You can show your teammates our tactics, but the next time we play against them we change all our signals.’
‘That sounds good, Patty,’ Luke said. I looked at Josie to see what she thought. Finally she nodded. ‘Thank you,’ I told her and then left the table to see Coach Clarke.
‘WHAT’S UP?’ Coach Clarke asked when I tapped him on the shoulder.
‘Coach, can we use the court after dinner?’
‘I was going to put on a film for everyone.’
‘I just want to show my teammates a few things,’ I told him.
‘There’s no way you’re running around though, Patty.’
‘I promise I won’t.’
‘If that’s what the others want, sure, I’m okay with that. But make sure they save some energy for tomorrow.’
‘Thanks Coach,’ I said before going back to the table to finish my dinner.
WE FOLLOWED MR JONES into the boarding school’s gym. The lights buzzed when he switched them on.
‘So, why have you dragged us in here?’ Tyson asked as I walked onto the court.
‘You know how all your club teams used to thrash the Shadows, but then we started beating you?’ I asked.
‘We only beat you in your first couple of games. Once your team got used to playing together, you were just better than us,’ Matthew said.
‘We won the grand final after you thrashed us at the start of the season,’ I reminded everyone.
‘Do you have to rub it in?’ Tyson said.
‘How did you guys get so good so quickly?’ Matthew asked.
‘We used some tricks,’ Luke blurted out.
Everyone’s eyes opened wide. ‘What kind of tricks?’ Matthew asked.
‘They’re more tactics than tricks. And signals too,’ I replied. ‘Here, I’ll show you.’
To start with I got Matthew to stand near Luke. Walking only, I dribbled the ball towards them and then held up two fingers. Luke burst to the left-hand side of the court, where I passed the ball to him.
‘How did Luke know where to run?’ Bruce asked.
Luke and I told everyone about the signal we used and what it meant.
‘Show us some more,’ Tyson asked, impressed.
‘Don’t worry, Tyson, I’m going to show you a whole lot in the next hour because it’s going to be you calling the shots tomorrow. Coach Clarke has benched me for the next couple of games.’
MY TEAM TOOK THE NEWS hard at first. But soon they rallied around me, making me sit and rest my ankle, and promising they would make it to
the grand final so that I could play again.
From the sideline, I showed them four basic plays and made them practise each a few times.
About half an hour later, Matthew knew when to fake to the side and cut to the basket. Everyone knew when Tyson was going to shoot a three-pointer and to get ready for rebounds. They also knew the signals for passing the ball to the left and right side of the keyway and to the top of the key.
I’d never seen Tyson concentrate as hard as he did when I ran through the plays. When I passed the ball to him and said, ‘Your turn to have a go now, Tyson,’ he dribbled out to the top of the key, determined to get the signals and passes right.
Coach Clarke walked into the gym, clapped when he saw what we were doing and said, ‘Great work, team! But it’s time to get ready for bed now.’
When we were all in bed I told everyone, ‘No talking or messing around tonight, I want us all to get a good sleep for tomorrow. If you can’t sleep, think about our plays, and memorise them, because we’re going to need them.’
Tyson gave me the thumbs-up and when it was lights out, everyone was silent.
JUST BEFORE WE left the change room to play our first of two games for the day, Bruce asked Tyson, ‘So in what order are you going to give us the signals?’
Before Tyson answered, I said, ‘It doesn’t work like that.’
‘Yeah, you can’t just try a set play every time you go to the basket,’ Luke said.
‘Everyone still needs to try to get in the best position and go with the flow of the game,’ I said. ‘But keep your eyes on Tyson and when he sees an opportunity, he’ll signal. Then we put our plays into action.’