Sport
15 October, 2024
Stanmore local is dunking to international sport success
Stanmore wheelchair basketball Classification One player, Mitchell Duncan, has been selected for the Australian team, to play at the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) U23 Men’s Asia Oceania Championships.
This qualifying competition, held on November 16-23, will determine if Australia will snag a spot in the IWBF World Championships, held in June next year.
When Mitchell was around two years old, his parents, Zita and Lyle, realised he wasn’t developing at the same rate as other kids.
After many tests, it was discovered he has cerebral palsy.
But this didn’t stop Mitchell from growing up just like any other kids around him and trying his hand at a range of para-sports.
Despite trying cricket, cycling, and swimming at para-sport try-out days in year 7, at 13 years old, Mitchell discovered his love for wheelchair basketball.
Once he found it, he never looked back.
He signed up with the USC wheelchair basketball club, the Suncoast Spinners, for three years.
Mitchell was then selected for his first nationals competition playing for Queensland in 2019.
Now at 20 years old, Mitchell has played in every nationals championship since debuting, winning multiple silver medals over the years, and a bronze at last year’s competition.
Mitchell said he first started playing basketball because he wanted something to play with his cousin and to fit in.
“It was great playing basketball in high school because all anyone talked about with me was basketball,” he said.
“From that, I was considered more ‘normal’ in their eyes, and as a kid, that’s all you want.”
He added that he loves playing the sport because it gave him newfound freedom.
“I think it’s the freedom that it gave me because growing up as a kid the one thing that I always saw, and what a lot of other people saw, was just my disability,” Mitchell said.
“But when it came to high school, it was the complete opposite.
Once I found the sport, they were no longer talking about my disability; they were talking about what I could do with it.”
Mitchell said he had some nerves going into playing at an international level but is training three times a week to prepare.
“It’s my first time at this level, so there is a lot of uncertainty about how we will all perform and how I will fit into the team,” he said.
He is now looking for financial support through sponsorship for his trip to the Asia Oceania Championships.
For sponsor enquiries, call his dad, Lyle, on 0418 412 635.
