By RUSSELL BENNETT
IT’S not hard to see how Tyson Carr got the nicknames ‘Sasquatch’ and ‘Big Foot’.
At just 12 years old and in Grade 6 at Pearcedale Primary School, this young Casey Cavalier already has size 12 feet.
But it’s another nickname – given to him by Australian legend Andrew Gaze – that has helped solidify Tyson’s belief that he’s on the right basketball track.
“There’s a guy on my state team who’s six-foot-two – and he’s the same age as me!” Tyson said.
“Andrew Gaze coaches him at representative level with the Tigers and he calls me ‘Big Dog’ because I out-rebounded this guy 10 times when I came up against him.”
That state team is the School Sport Victoria (SSV) under-12 team, which Tyson was named to recently.
And in just a few short weeks, he’ll be heading across the other side of the country to Perth with his new team mates to play in the Australian Basketball Championships from 17 to 23 August.
Tyson chose basketball as his preferred sport at the age of seven, after footy had already “bored the hell out of him”.
“I loved basketball straight away so I just kept going with it.”
Tyson plays basketball every day and is on four teams – including the Casey Cavaliers team he plays for with close mate Blake Taylor (last week’s Cranbourne News, page 53).
Tyson was well and truly put through his paces in his quest to make the SSV side – going through more than his fair share of selection stages.
But the Andrew Bogut Academy member now has the confidence to step up his basketball game – thanks to his flexibility, his speed for his size and his ability to jump.
And at 5’8″ in the old scale, the young forward-centre knows the importance of continuing to work on his guard skills – in case those growth spurts stop.
His best attributes are his ability to drive the lane but he knows his jump shot needs some work, as does his dribbling and his ball control with his non-dominant left hand.
Tyson is looking forward to heading over to Perth with his parents for his first interstate trip.
But it’s not a cheap exercise – with young SSV participants have to find the money for everything from travel, to uniforms in just the few short weeks since being selected. The ultimate cost is well into the thousands.
Reconnected Pty Ltd – a Cranbourne-based company that provides on-site computer and server support – is sponsoring Tyson and his parents on their mission to Perth.
The company will donate $1 for every ‘like’ on its Facebook page to help get the youngster to the nationals.
Find the page at: www.facebook.com/ReconnectedPtyLtd.
