Wheelchair basketball careers tend to begin in the most peculiar of places and the hoops journey of Hannah Dodd is no different.
Arriving in Tokyo with the Gliders for the Paralympic Games, her path began in a London casino.
Dodd’s first Paralympics were in London 2012 where she competed in Para Equestrian.
Despite being the youngest member of the equestrian team, Dodd was ranked number one in Australia, and finished with two 11ths and a 12th in her three events at London.
But it was a chance encounter with former Gliders coach Gerry Hewson that soon planted the seed for a switch of sports.
“I got recruited via my parents in a casino in London. Equestrian was one of the last sports to be announced so my parents didn’t get tickets to the opening ceremony so they chose to watch it at the casino next door.”
Hewson was also watching the ceremony from the casino and got chatting with the Dodds.
“When I came home after the games I didn’t have a horse to ride, I didn’t own the horse that I rode in London and I had a lot of free time on my hands so I got into basketball.”
“Basketball was supposed to be a bit of a fun sport, a bit of a pressure release from horse riding but I probably should've known better, I’m a pretty competitive person.”
Dodd started playing local competitions in 2012 and by 2013 had progressed to the national league.
She quickly caught the attention of the Australian program who were keen to develop her talent if she was. By 2014 she was part of the Gliders extended squad and in 2015 helped claim silver at the U25s World Championships.
In 2016 Dodd linked up with the Roller Hawks, travelling from Sydney and later the Sunshine Coast to play and train with the men any chance she got.
“I owe the Roller Hawks a lot. A lot of what I am as a player today has come from them.”
“I was really lucky to start training with the boys in 2016 and having experienced players like Luke and Nick, Sticky and Huss to help me out has raised my game and taught me how to play against faster, stronger people.”
“It’s really improved how I play as far as speed and agility but also how I think about the game. It really raised my IQ on how to play and how to see the game.”
Dodd now forms an important part of a Gliders side looking for redemption after missing the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
“We’ve got a very young squad. Only two of us have been to Paralympics before for basketball and obviously myself as a horse rider but the rest are all debutants. It’s kind of hard to know where we are in the world, having not seen anyone since late 2019.”
“We’re hoping to make it to at least the crossovers and playoffs, that’s the goal at the moment and everything after that is a bonus.”
The Gliders will face stiff competition against the likes of Great Britain and Germany but the biggest challenge will be dealing with COVID and the tedium of being stuck in their room between matches unable to explore the host city or even enjoy the village life usually associated with the Games.
“Hopefully this will be a once in a lifetime experience, in more ways than one. It’s just going to be about taking each day as it comes and being able to be adaptable to last minute changes.”
“I think the team that can adapt the best is probably going to be the one that comes out on top.”
Tokyo Paralympics Wheelchair Basketball Schedule (All times Tokyo Local Time)