Peter Howe
“See ball, get ball,” is a simple mantra of March Don Deeble Sports Star Jack Innella.
It was what worked for him when he first started playing basketball and nothing has changed as he prepares to travel to France with the Australian Boomerangs, the men’s national team for athletes with an intellectual disability, to the Virtus Global Games.
Innella started playing basketball as a 10-year-old.
“I didn’t know the rules, but I loved the speed of the game,” he said “You are always involved.
“My parents made it simple for me, see ball get ball. So, I did.”
Innella tried football but found he was out of the play for a lot of the time, so he lost interest quickly.
It is very obvious he is a fierce competitor. For a start he is only 1.8 metres tall and the smallest member of his teams, secondly and most importantly for Innella he wants to break the glass ceiling by becoming the first intellectually disabled basketballer to make it in mainstream basketball.
“I would like to set the pathway for my mates in the Boomerangs to be seen as competent basketballers and able to match it with the best.”
Innella has taken the first step towards that goal by being the first Boomerangs player to be invited to the AIS in Canberra for a camp of under-20 basketballers.
Just 25 basketballers in Australia were selected to attend that camp.
“It was very physical and tough, but I loved it,” Innella said.
Innella doesn’t want people to judge him, just accept him for who he is and celebrate what he brings to the team.
He has made the huge decision to take himself off his ADHD medication to comply with WADA regulations as he chases his sporting dreams.
“The older I get the more I understand myself. I am a perfectionist and get angry with myself if I make mistakes.
“I have learned to take myself out of the game if this happens. I don’t feel I need my medication at this stage and am managing it quite well.”
Innella trained at Team 639 in Hoppers Crossing to work on my strength and conditioning most days before spending another two hours with his mentor Darren Hindle to work on his shooting technique and mindset.
Innella is a visual learner and picks up the nuances very quickly. Learning by repetitive doing means he spends hours and hours watching and playing the sport.
“I play as the point guard in my teams, it is like being the quarterback in the NFL. You set up the plays and set the tempo of the game.”
Innella made his first state squad at age 14 as an emergency. It was an amazing achievement given it was an open age men’s team.
His parents took him to Canberra to watch the tournament as emergencies didn’t travel for that tournament. One of the Victorian assistant coaches saw him in the crowd, came and got him and immersed him into the team for the rest of that tournament.
That moment had an overwhelming impact on him. The bond between player and coach was forged in that simple act of inclusion. Innella now travels from Truganina to Pakenham five days a week to train and play under that coach.
As a 15-year-old, Innella was also playing in mainstream representative teams.
The best moment in Innella’s basketball life occurred in the Virtus Asian Games held in Brisbane last year.
Innella was playing point guard for Australia and was given some tough defensive roles.
At the recent Ivor Burge National Basketball Australia tournament held in Geelong, Innella was selected as the best defensive player in the competition.
The Don Deeble Sports Star Award is sponsored by the Yarraville Club Cricket Club, Strathmore Community Bank, the Deer Park Club, Ascot Vale Sports and Trophies and the Star Weekly Newspapers.
If you would like to nominate a monthly winner or attend a dinner contact swrsportsclub@gmail.com or 0408 556 631.
