The sacrifices you make to play the sport you love

It’s Saturday and a basketball game is on at the WISE Arena in Stoke Gifford. While usually this would see packed stands and plenty of noise, today it’s a decidedly quieter affair.

Even though the teams competing are among the best in their league, there isn’t the same excitement behind the home side we’re used to seeing. In fact, the away team seems to have more support among the crowd.

The home team is the Bristol Flyers Women – a team very different to their male counterparts.

While basketball is the sole career for most of the men’s team, the women’s team all have full-time jobs and come together on evenings to train and on weekends for games. The only thing bringing them there is their devotion to their chosen sport.

Two of their most senior players work as a pharmacist and physiotherapist, and it’s a strain to maintain the two commitments, especially when both fall on the same day.

“Sometimes it’s really hard,” says forward Liisa Juul. “I wake up at 6am every morning, I get to work normally for nine. I finish at six/seven and there’s no time in between to go home. Our training is quite late, it normally finishes at ten, I get home at 11. So it’s a long day when we’ve got training.”

On Mondays, centre Hannah Watkins works from 8am to 6pm and needs to be at training by 8pm. She has about a 20-minute turn around from finishing work before an hour’s drive to practice, giving her just enough time to change and grab a quick bite to eat before going on the court.

“Sometimes it’s hard to get up and going, but once I’m at practice I forget I’m tired or what’s been going on that day,” says Watkins.

Juul adds: “When you’re on your feet for nine hours, when you get to training you feel so tired. You want to run but your body doesn’t do it, you just have to push yourself.

“But you get used to it. I’ve done this for so long I don’t find it very extraordinary. My colleagues ask me, ‘How do you go to training after work?’ It’s just what I’ve done ever since I was nine.”

In terms of commercial and financial management, the players are helped out a great deal by SGS and receive monetary contributions from local companies and individuals including principle partner Lancer Scott, yet a significant portion of the regular season’s costs still come out of their own pocket.

“The season can be very expensive: court hire, game costs, referees and officials take up the majority of our budget,”  says head coach Gareth Till, who is also responsible for all commercial aspects of the team.

“We have great support from SGS College and Andreas (Kapoulas, the men’s first team coach), in terms of facilities and transport which helps reduce running costs of the season.

“Fortunately I’ve had help from some great friends and companies over the years who want to support women’s basketball in Bristol. I passionately believe in the players and their commitment to the team and I’ll continue to champion them so we’re in a position where we can cover basic costs.”

This season’s Bristol Flyers Women squad. Liisa Juul is back row, second from left; and Hannah Watkins is back row, fourth from left

The coach’s faith in the players is well founded. Just talking to them, it’s easy to see their devotion and dedication to their team and their game. Even though it can be hard, they willingly balance their two lives.

“I used to go to work before games,” Juul reveals. “We had a game in the evening and I worked 9am to 1pm, but I don’t do that anymore. The game’s more important. You can’t be tired.

“On training days I make sure I do the morning shift, or at least finish before six so I can go training. For me, there has to be a really, really good reason why I miss training.”

It’s not uncommon to find one life impacting on the other: “I broke a finger and a thumb last season which meant I couldn’t do clinical work for a while,” says Watkins.

Though she’s aware of the very real risk of injury and the problems it poses, she won’t let that affect her game. “You can’t play like that. It’s a physical and competitive game. You’d be holding back if that was going through your mind. I just try to work on my strength and fitness to help me stay injury free.”

Do they to remain competitive? “Of course,” Watkins answers. “That’s the reason I play. I want to win every game.”

Devoting so much of their time to basketball also sees them missing out on time with family and friends. During the season, social lives have to take a back seat.

“From September to March we barely have any free weekends,” says Juul. “People go out on Saturdays. We don’t really do that that much. We only have one or two weekends free.”

Even those at the very top of women’s basketball in the UK have said they feel some disappointment at the lack of exposure and interest the female game receives.

Maya Moore, one of the most decorated women ever to play basketball, said in 2015: “It’s frustrating on several levels. We professional female athletes are continuing to grow and evolve, and trying to make an impact on our communities and other young lives (and) there are fewer eyeballs to even inspire or influence because the exposure to the players and our game isn’t as great.”

These are thoughts later echoed by Candice Wiggins, who played for eight years in the WNBA and won the 2011 championship with the Minnesota Lynx: “It was a depressing state in the WNBA. It’s not watched. Our value is diminished. It can be quite hard.”

With women’s stars struggling to break through the glass ceiling in the USA, many of the world’s top players have had to move half-way across the world to Russia during the WNBA off-season to earn wages closer to their male counterparts.

For the Flyers Women, given all the strain and sacrifice that is caused by juggling basketball and the real world, what is it that keeps them playing?

Juul is quick to respond: “Every time the season ends I’m thinking, ‘nah, I’ve had enough.’ Then after that two months break the coaches ask you to come to training in August. I have that first training session and I’m thinking ‘what have I done without this?’”

Watkins adds: “I still love playing. I missed having a competitive outlet when I didn’t play for a couple of seasons.”

“You miss the people as well, ” Juul interjects. “The people you meet through basketball, especially your teammates, are going to be friends with you forever.

“It’s a different kind of bond because you work for something together, for the same purpose, and you learn to rely on each other and I think that unites people more. It’s like a little family.”

Watkins adds: “One day you don’t get to choose whether you can play or not, so while my body is hanging on in there I’ll keep going! Being part of a team keeps you motivated.”

To buy tickets to Bristol Flyers home games, visit www.tickets.bristol-sport.co.uk/en-GB/categories/basketball