LOCKED IN: Caledonia’s Patrick Whelan on dreaming big, taking risks and elevating British hoops.

British Basketball League stars are far more than just the incredible athletes you love to watch do their thing on the hardwood week in, week out – this is about more than just hoops!

To
demonstrate that this season we’ve launched a new feature where you’ll get to
hear directly from some of the biggest names in the League about some of the
topics and issues both in basketball and beyond that they’re most passionate
about! 

We’ve already heard from Surrey Scorchers sharpshooter Quin Cooper on the lessons from his incredible journey from Louisiana to hoopin’ across the globe, but next up we have homegrown superstar Patrick Whelan of the Caledonia Gladiators. LOCK IN for this one, as it’s an incredible read!

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My
brothers were my biggest influences growing up and we were just desperate to
play whenever we could.

We played for school and club teams around Warrington and Manchester and had a chance to get on the court that way, but we wanted to be playing as much as possible and we would do some pretty crazy things looking back on it now, just to get some reps in.

We
had a ring on our driveway but nothing local to us in terms of a public court
other than what was at school or in the gym, which cost something like £22 an
hour to hire out – and as teenagers, we didn’t have that kind of money to throw
around.

We
did some crazy things, but we had to because we had big dreams, and we loved
the game so all we wanted to do was play.

Our
school had a gym on the bottom floor, but the door was always locked or you
needed a card to enter; so my older brother Jordan and I would hang around by
the door waiting for the bigger kids to go and use the gym and we’d sneak in
after them.

I used
to get a buzz from taking those risks… especially when we were successful and actually
got onto a court to have a proper workout without having to pay a tonne of
money for it.

There’s
no doubt about it, we were breaking the rules, and any time you can do that –
especially as a kid – and get away with it, you definitely get a buzz from
it. 

Our
plan was to always try and sneak in early in the morning when nobody was there,
or at the end of the day when everybody was leaving.

We
did get caught a few times, to be honest, but there were no real repercussions
– we didn’t get a bill or anything to take home – we’d just get a talking-to
from a teacher and were told not to do it again, (which we didn’t listen to).

What’s
crazy to think about is that we had to do this at all. All we wanted to do was
play basketball, but the lengths we had to go to get on a court and get those
extra hours in were pretty extreme.

In
the summers when school was closed, I would be back to taking two-hour trips
into Manchester to get some practice in, and then two hours to get back home.

Sitting
here now, knowing what I’ve been fortunate enough to achieve in the game and
the experiences I’ve had, I’d do it all again in a heartbeat – but it shouldn’t
be so difficult for kids to chase their dreams.

Big dreams and big accomplishments

I
was so naïve as a kid. I really thought I was going to be an NBA player and it
was as simple as that.

It
was my goal and anytime anybody would ask me what I was going to do with my
life I would say “I’m going to be a professional basketball player in the NBA”.
I didn’t get there but that naivete is what kept me going and pushed me on
because it was a tough journey, but I felt like that’s what I had to do to get
to where I wanted to be.

There
was no plan B. In my eyes, it was making it as a professional basketball player
or bust and I never really saw a different plan for my life; I’m glad of that because
it’s what kept me pushing forward.

As
I got older, I started to realise that although I might not make the NBA, being
a professional and having a good career in the game was certainly possible.

I
played a lot of minutes in college at William Jewell in the States and
contributed a lot during my time there, which is when I felt certain that I
could have a great career and have incredible experiences playing this game I
love… which is what I had been dreaming about for as long as I could remember.

There
are a lot of things that I’ve achieved in my career that I think most people wouldn’t
have believed me to be capable of if I’m honest. Top of that list would have to
be playing for Great Britain at EuroBasket, which was an incredible feeling.

I
remember first breaking into the squad just a few months before and thinking
how great it would be to be in that squad and make it to Milan. I wasn’t expecting
it, so to play in that tournament was amazing.

Having
a big role for the Caledonia Gladiators in FIBA Europe Cup has been another
achievement that I’ll always hold in high regard because I feel like we’ve
helped put British basketball on the map.

What
makes both of those achievements so special for me is having the opportunity to
elevate the British game across the world, proving to everybody who doubts us
that we can play and that we have what it takes to compete with the best.

If
what we’re doing now in this league as British teams, and in my case as British
players, can open more doors for future generations in years to come, then that
is what’s really important to me.

For the future hoopers

My
advice to any young players out there would just be to make sure that they know
how important these years are. The most important thing when you’re striving to
achieve something in this game is to never stop playing with passion and love for
the game.

When
you when you play basketball without emotion, you are inevitably worse than
when you play with that energy behind you. Keep loving the game and keep
playing with joy.

I get
to meet and talk to a lot of these young players at our games now and I see
myself in them. I remember being at every Manchester Magic game when I was a
kid and being desperate to meet the players after the games, collecting
autographs and pictures and all of that.

I
must have had some players’ autographs 10 times over and I don’t know why I
kept collecting them, but those guys were my heroes. That’s why I’ll never not
sign an autograph for a kid or not take a picture with somebody.

I was that kid once and I remember how special it was to me to have those moments, so if I can have even one kid look up to me just a little bit and follow their dreams because of me, then I’ll do whatever I can to support that.

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