Perth Paralympic star's big hopes for wheelchair basketball
Perth Wheelcats veteran and Paralympic star Taishar Ovens hopes an expanded National Wheelchair Basketball League will boost Australia on the global stage.
Ovens' decorated decade-long career has seen her fly the flag for her nation at international events multiple times, including the Tokyo Paralympics.
And she hopes the national competition expanding from four teams to six this season will help find the next generation of stars and push Australia towards Paralympic gold.
'Having more teams and more competition means hopefully we are going to get more players in the pathways to the Gliders and the Devils to be a more competitive national team,' she told The West Australian.
'Super excited to have some more rounds and women's teams this season and have some good healthy competition, which we've been lacking for a while.
'It's the biggest expansion we've had in a while, and it's just been driven by the number of people who want to be involved.
'Post COVID-19 (the growth) has been insane, I would say, even overseas with Australian players going over there to play, and now it's coming back into Australia.'
Ovens has previously represented the Red Dust Heelers but says playing for her home team in Perth is 'special'.
'Coming back to a Perth team and playing in my home state is really special because you can get your family and friends around the games a lot more,' the 27-year-old said.
'I think with Perth, we're very lucky; we've got some really good natural talent.
'We like to play a real team game, but a big one to look out for is Ebony (Stevenson), who won rookie of the year last year, so hopefully, we see some good things from her again this season.'
Perth will be hunting their fourth women's national title when the league tips off on May 30.
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