Brendan Dowler played a little bit of cricket growing up and tried a few different sports but admits he “wasn’t really good at anything.”  

 

 He also says the degenerative effect of a spinal tumor that put him in a wheelchair at age 25 also would’ve had an effect on his early sporting days. 

 

While in recovery in Ryde and learning to use a wheelchair he tried his hand at several wheelchair sports but the basketball bug quickly bit and he became part of a growing contingent of Illawarra-based players who would regularly travel to Sydney to play.

In the late nineties an Illawarra team started competing in a Country League against Canberra and Bathurst while a Sydney league ran concurrently. 

 

“We gradually built a local team and started to go pretty well in the country league. At the same time I was playing for the Sydney Cobras and then the Hills Hornets in the national league,” says Dowler.

 

Eventually the Illawarra side became too strong for the country league and moved into the Sydney league.

 

A gradual progression from country to city then lead to national and the establishment of the Wollongong Roller Hawks. 

 

The club was ready to go in 2000 but with the Paralympics looming the league did not allow any new teams to enter until after the Games.

 

“I was in the squad for the Sydney Paralympics in 2000. I was a development player then one of the last players cut. All the experience you can get, the more people you’re around and that’s the great thing, there are so many people around to support us, there was a lot of opportunity to play and be involved and I think that’s what makes it a great wheelchair basketball scene in New South Wales.

 

Dowler made his Paralympic debut at the 2004 Athens Games where the Rollers won silver before going one better with gold at the 2008 Beijing Games. 

 

“Now when I look back, I look at my journey, which is a bit of a catchphrase, all the different people and all the different teams I’ve been involved in at all different levels, administrators, coaches, former players, current players, the community support that we get at different levels, I’ve been really fortunate to have so much great support.”

 

After success as a player, he coached the Roller Hawks to the 2012 NWBL title and after a break from basketball returned in 2017, guiding the side to the last four national titles. (2017, 2018, 2019, 2022)

“The switch from a player to a coach is difficult, it's just so mentally taxing, you’ve got to be so switched on the whole time. I think when you’re a player it’s a bit more auto-pilot. You do so much training, it is a lot of muscle memory.”

 

Dowler has no plans to move away from coaching anytime soon and is keen to remain a key part of helping the sport in the region.

 

“It all comes from development. While there might be a decent amount of money and support for the upper levels, it's at the grass roots level where it starts and it’s important to have that pathway.”

 

“Getting kids that have disabilities out and being able to experience what they can and achieving their potential, seeing what they can go on to achieve and that includes seeing a clear pathway where others have been before them. We need to support the kids so that they can go and represent Australia and achieve their potential because it just adds so much value to their life.”