Former Notre Dame student and Shepparton United football player Oscar Ryan is just a week away from fulfilling his dream.
The Adelaide Crows have drafted the Goulburn Valley superstar into the AFL.
But it could’ve been so different.
“It was actually a really difficult decision to choose between basketball or football,” Ryan said.
“I thought I was a bit better at footy, but some might say I was better at basketball.”
Ryan played basketball from a young age but got involved with the Shepparton Gators at the under-16 level.
He “loved every moment” playing ball for Shepparton.
But it wasn’t without its struggles.
“It was really hard to get courts,” Ryan said.
“It’s a lot easier to find ovals to kick a footy around with some mates, and each club has a home base in footy, whereas basketball, it’s difficult for clubs to find a space to train at.”
He said the ability to head down to the oval and kick the footy whenever he wanted was crucial to his development as a player.
It’s much harder to shoot some hoops in Shepparton casually, and players are missing out on an opportunity to take their games to the next level because of the facilities.
Ryan said when travelling to other towns for basketball tournaments, he was always struck by how much better their stadiums were.
He couldn’t even get into the Shepparton Sports Stadium this year to support his mates in the Big V division one grand final.
And Ryan wasn’t alone, with hundreds of fans sent home due to capacity issues.
While Ryan feels like he would ultimately always have been a footy player, things might have been different if basketball was as accessible as other sports in Shepparton.
Many concerned basketball community members have asked where the next generation of Shepparton Gators will come from, with so many young basketballers getting snatched by other sports.
“I know a lot of footy players that are really into basketball,” Ryan said.
“And you’d probably keep a lot of them in basketball if you had something better.
“Shepparton needs a better stadium, and I hope it gets done soon.”
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