Moving to Broadmeadows when he was young was an eye opener for Australian Opals basketball coach Brendan Joyce.
“I was born when my parents lived in the Collingwood [commission] flats, then we moved to the Richmond flats,” Joyce recalled last week.
“We upgraded to a house in Broadmeadows when I was in grade 5, which we all thought was sensational. And school was amazing; we had grass and footy posts and an oval.
“In East Melbourne [where he started school], there was no footy field, only a basketball court where we kicked a ball.”
Joyce looks back fondly on his time growing up in Broadmeadows.
“I have great memories of my time there,” he said. “It was tough and I was mischievous and got into a few fights.
“I’m still friends with people I went to school with. One of my best mates still goes to the local football each week to watch Jacana.”
Among those he counts as friends is Broadmeadows MP Frank McGuire and his younger brother, Broadmeadows’ most famous resident Eddie.
Much of Joyce’s time growing up was spent on the basketball court and football field.
“I actually won the best and fairest for our footy team in grade 6 and I played school footy from form three in tech school.
“My captain was Billy Swan, the father of AFL Brownlow medallist Dane.
“We didn’t have a basketball team at school. I was aligned with St Andrews Presbyterian Church Boys Club Wildcats from my time in the city and played with them.
“They eventually became the Nunawading Spectres.”
Joyce finished school and got an apprenticeship, and he had to make one of the biggest decisions of his life, whether to focus on basketball or football.
“I was pretty good at footy and won a couple of best and fairests with Jacana. But I had to make the choice.
“I still have the letter from North Melbourne [in the then VFL] saying they wanted me to play for them. I wanted to play for Collingwood but was zoned to play with North Melbourne.
“If I could have played for Collingwood, I may have chosen to play football instead of basketball.”
But the decision to choose basketball was fruitful, both on and off the court.
Joyce played 289 games for the Spectres and Brisbane Bullets in the National Basketball League and was twice in the Australian squad, including in the lead-up to the 1988 Olympics.
A new career beckoned, and Joyce coached the Wollongong Hawks from 1995-2006, winning the 2001 NBL championship, before two years at the Gold Coast Blaze.
In 2013 he was appointed coach of the Opals.
Off court, he met his wife at the basketball courts in Fawkner. “If I’d played football I would not have gone to the Olympics [as assistant coach of the Boomers] or won a bronze medal at the world championships,” Joyce said.
At the world titles, he had to call on the fighting spirit learned from growing up in Broadmeadows.
“We had seven new players and we lost Liz Cambage with an achilles injury a week out from the tournament,” he said.
“The old man used to push us to never give up and he was a pretty positive person. I think of where I’ve come from and I’m proud of that. It has helped play a role in my life and how I coach.”
These days, Joyce doesn’t get to Broadmeadows often, but will never forget where he came from.
“When I was playing in the NBL I used to go to every school in Broadmeadows and hold basketball clinics,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter where you come from, you can have success. Credit to my parents who kept me on track.”
