Joining us on Shooting The Breeze this week in an engaging catch-up is Opal Marianna Tolo.

Just back from Tokyo we had the opportunity to talk about the Olympics, the highs and the lows in one of the most challenging campaigns and the enduring legacy of the Australian Opals.

Tolo gives us an insight on her plans for the future, how that Puerto Rico game was an example of Opals grit, and on a lighter note she takes us inside life in the Olympic village, and how DJ’s Cayla & Sara kept the team pumped with spinning the beats.

Enjoy Ep40 as we share x 40 minutes with Tolo…

Join Tolo on twitter: @MariannaTolo
Join us: @theBreezePod

A dominant win by TeamUSA over the Opals closes an emotionally drawn and rimmed out Opals Olympics campaign.

There were highlights to be sure, we shoot the breeze on our QF game, whats next and another big event on the Opals horizon in the FIBAWWC 2022.

Meanwhile hosts Japan's #AkatsukiFive have played inspired ball and may go all the way or is TeamUSA just invincible?

Join us on twitter: @theBreezePod
Jacinta is on twitter: @S_Squin

BONUS Tokyo2020 with Jacinta Govind Opals Game 3 wrap and USA QF preview

A miraculous hard-fought 27 point win for the Opals against Puerto Rico giving them the final QF slot in perhaps one of their most defining games and certainly one for the history books!

Next up invincible TeamUSA are looking for their 5th straight Olympic Gold in a sudden death Quarter Finals, our Opals will need to be relentless - GoOpals!

Join us on twitter: @theBreezePod
Jacinta is on twitter: @S_Squin

BOUNS Podcast: Tokyo2020 Series.

Jacinta Govind a.k.a ‘Squin’ joins Shooting The Breeze for the Game 2 wrap of China's heartbreaking win against the Opals.

Next up in Group C is Puerto Rico. Time to Shoot the Lights out and get us outta this Group phase!

Join us on twitter: @theBreezePod
Jacinta is on twitter: @S_Squin

BOUNS Podcast: Tokyo2020 Series.

Jacinta Govind a.k.a ‘Squin’ joins Shooting The Breeze for the Game 1 wrap of Belgium’s debut win against the Opals.

Next up in Group C is China. It’s Sync or Sink.

Join us on twitter: @theBreezePod
Jacinta is on twitter: @S_Squin

Tune In to our BOUNS Tokyo2020 Series.

Jacinta Govind a.k.a ‘Squin’ joins us to preview the first game in the Opals Olympic campaign.

The Aussie Opals play Belgium. The Belgian Cats are making their first Olympics appearance.

Jacinta is on twitter: @S_Squin

The FIBA Womens World Cup (FIBAWWC 2022) will kick off a phenomenal decade for Womens sports in Australia.

In this episode we talk to Martha Lourey-Bird and Jacqui Dover, both former athletes joining forces to spearhead the FIBAWWC Legacy Program rolled out in partnership with Basketball NSW & Office of Sport NSW.

As a Sports scientist & lecturer, Martha advocates for girls in sport and provides valuable research into the challenges and barriers for girls and women in sport and basketball. In 2021 Jacqui made history as the first indigenous female basketball referee in the NBL and in her role at Basketball NSW as Indigenous, Cultural & Linguistically Diverse Programs Manager, she is a highly visible role model for all girls and women in basketball.

Tune in as we talk about the groundbreaking Legacy Program.


Martha is on twitter: MarthaLBird
Jacqui’s referee mentoring academy: https://www.jd8official.com

In this Episode we welcome back Annie La Fleur - Olympian & NSW Hall of Famer to tell us about basketball programs bringing positive social impacts in the COVID era to the FIBA Oceania and South East Asia regions. Adapting to online delivery has brought unexpected benefits by reaching more people across large geographical regions while also keeping kids and communities engaged.

Annie gets into her involvement with indigenous camps across NSW as part of the BNSW partnership with the Patty Mills’ Indigenous Basketball Australia organisation and the promise of discovering new talent in our nation.

We also get an insight into the FIBA initiatives of Hoops for Health & Her World Her Rules and its application closer to home in the Pacific region along with the importance of home grown ambassadors that kids can look up to and represent them.

In this episode we are joined by Laura Hodges, a 4 time Aussie Basketball Olympian and inaugural Australian Basketball Players' Assoc. (ABPA) Board member.

After a long and successful hoops career with the AIS and Adelaide Lightning in the WNBL, Euroleague & WNBA she is well placed to represent the collective voice of our womens professional players, and with two young daughters she is passionate to see the best for the womens league.

During an unprecedented 2020, the ABPA led by former NBL player Jacob Holmes has made huge strides in securing a Collective Bargaining Agreement for the WNBL. The ABPA continues to evolve and grow support for athletes ensuring they are well supported in a highly competitive sporting arena and for the career that follows.

In a different episode we’re joined by Dylan Simpson and Lachlan Ross producer and director of the documentary Go Big a look behind the scenes of the 2020/21 WNBL UCCaps season.

By telling the story of the UCCaps drive for a 3peat we get a look at women’s basketball that we’ve never seen before, and a far richer narrative emerges.

It’s not just about basketball, it also the stories of players, staff past and present and a celebration of women’s hoops and how the Caps have raised the awareness of the sport in their hometown and across the country.

Time to tell their story. Enjoy!

Can be found on twitter:
GoBIG: @gobig_doco
Canberra WNBL: @UCCapitals