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Season 3 Episode 17: Making digital history with Brynn Masikewich
42 Plays10 days ago
Due to conflicting commitments, EGG were unable to record their regular episode. But were lucky to interview the delightful Brynn Masikewich from Albury-Wodonga Bandits.
We will be back to regular programming next week!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Interview
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey Eastcott Game fans, this week we had some conflicting commitments with our regular podcast recording time. However, we did have an athlete very kindly offer up their Monday night for an athlete interview.
00:00:14
Speaker
We will be back next week with our regular programming, but for now, please enjoy this interview with a superstar of the NBL One East competition from Albury Wodonga Bandits.
00:00:41
Speaker
Today's guest is one of a number of international stars in NBL 1 East in 2025. They have played college ball at the highest level before recently commencing a professional career that has taken them to Germany and now to the greatest league in the world, NBL 1 East.
00:00:56
Speaker
They've also represented their country in under-17 and under-19 World Cups where they played against some names very familiar to NBL 1 East fans. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, but now balling for the Albury-Wodonga Bandits, today's guest is none other than Bryn Maskowicz. Welcome Bryn.
00:01:14
Speaker
Thank you. Thank you. Lovely to have you with us. was it was lovely to meet you the other day at Sutherland as well. I have my other Canada jersey on tonight.
00:01:25
Speaker
Yes, I see. So we always start our conversations with athletes and finish with the same two questions.
Bryn's Early Basketball Journey
00:01:32
Speaker
And the first question is always, where did your basketball journey begin?
00:01:37
Speaker
Okay, so it's actually pretty boring, but like, I think it's cool. I grew up in a basketball family, like both my parents played college basketball and then my dad played professionally as well. So it just kind like happened, I would say like my sister, she's three years older, she got into the game quite early. And obviously, i wanted to do whatever my sister did.
00:01:57
Speaker
And then I just like gravitated towards it And it just kind of took off and I fell in love with it. And then here I am.
00:02:06
Speaker
So did did you love it from the start? Because we get players who have been in basketball families all the time on these interviews that say when they first started, they hated it. They were crying on the court as kids.
00:02:17
Speaker
But was that like, was it like that for you at all? No, I never, never that. More so, I just love the competition. I love the thrill of the game. i always tend to thrive in competitive environments and like high pressured situations, let's say.
00:02:34
Speaker
and it's something that I felt really comfortable in that i always wanted to keep pursuing. So thankfully, growing up, I never had ah distasteful love for basketball. So I always, I liked it.
00:02:47
Speaker
Here in Australia, you know, if when you first make a reps team, that's when you start realizing you're pretty good.
Realizing Basketball Potential
00:02:53
Speaker
when When did you realize that basketball was something you might be able to take further, that you might be pretty good at this game?
00:02:59
Speaker
um I would say when I started getting called up to play with my sister, ah Just something there was kind of like, oh, okay. And I was always with her in like a lot of age group things. So big shout out to my sister here, Summer, ah because I was always around her and her friends. So I guess that would be a little bit annoying, but...
00:03:21
Speaker
we're cool with that but yeah honestly just her ah just being around her skill level and then once she moved off to university uh university then i was kind of like oh wait what or like even like high school and then the national team really kind of sparked interest when they started showing a lot of like hey hello like can you come out to a tryout we want to invite you here and also same with like the provincial team they called me up to play older levels instead of with my age group so then i was kind of like oh okay let's do this so that's kind of when the tables kind of started to turn that wow okay
00:04:02
Speaker
I'm actually kind of good at this game. so Did you set yourself some goals from a young age or were you just lucky to kind of organically ah go from strength to strength when those opportunities came up?
Goal-setting and Aspirations
00:04:15
Speaker
Oh, I was a big goal setter. Like I had the dream board. i had the everything to do, all this stuff. So ever since I was little, our parents, ah my parents brought me to national team games with the Canadian girls.
00:04:31
Speaker
So at a very young age, I was exposed to such a high level. And that's always been such a dream for me. So once I was able to like be exposed to that or even, My dad and my mom would take me to our university college games and I would love to go and watch the girls. Like that was stuff that we did on the weekends. And I was just always exposed to such a high level that I was like, oh, that's going to be me one day. Like I want to be her.
00:04:57
Speaker
And I always had dreams of doing that. And it's cool that I'm living out some of my childhood dreams. You even moved to cross country, basically to Hamilton to play for Lincoln Prep.
00:05:09
Speaker
how How did that set you up for your future? You know being away from your family at such a young age.
Significant Move to Lincoln Prep
00:05:14
Speaker
Yeah, that was a massive turning point in my life for my career in such a positive way because I am from Calgary, Alberta, and the age group that I did play with was my sister.
00:05:25
Speaker
That once i she finally grew up and went to college and stuff like that, the skill set of my age group wasn't at the level it needed to be for me to continue to grow my game.
00:05:36
Speaker
And one of the Olympic team coaches that actually lived in calgary um took me under her wing and helped like mentor me and like train me to how i play now and she was kind of like hey so ontario starting this league off it's called osba and i think you should go and do it so that kind of helps like facilitate the conversation with my parents because that's like a big deal because I was also very young. I was 15 and my parents would have stayed. They stayed. So I moved off on my own. But they started this program over there where they had one year under the belt.
00:06:12
Speaker
and I really wanted to go because I knew especially my hometown, it's big, I'm just talking it's small, but I just felt kind of out of place in the sort of sense because i was so I was good at basketball, but then compared to my peers, it was kind of like, oh, unfair. So then I felt like I had to dim my light to kind of be where, but then in the summer, i had to ramp it up because I'm playing against girls that represent Canada and are kind of the top dog. So Ontario was definitely the biggest move that I had to do and Lincoln prep, especially because I wanted to play under Richard nurse, which is Kia nurse's dad and Kia nurse plays on the national team, which I grew up watching.
00:06:55
Speaker
So i was like, that's someone that I want to be coached by and I want to be mentored by to be able to play.
Competing Against Renowned Players
00:07:01
Speaker
and then he and our, ah um my other coach, Andrew you really facilitated that I can play in America because growing up as a girl in Canada, you just want to stay in Canada.
00:07:13
Speaker
And they were like, no, like you need to you need to go down in the States, have the conversations with coaches because you, you belong to play in the States against these girls. And that really helped build my confidence.
00:07:25
Speaker
And so, yeah. So if I didn't do that move, all these steps of where I am at, who knows what it would have led to. And so was there anyone else of note in the league at that time or in your team at that time?
00:07:38
Speaker
That played in America? Yeah, oh yeah just ah anyone who played for Canada or anyone who ended up going to America. Oh, yeah. Yeah, so a lot of players actually...
00:07:51
Speaker
um Yeah, um my age group for whatever is quite successful, but some of like the biggest notable names is Aaliyah Edwards. I played with her for a long time throughout the program. She's in the W now.
00:08:02
Speaker
ah Same with Kia. Well, i never played with Kia, but trained with her and a bunch of other huge stars. I have all these names in my head I don't know which order to go into, but a lot of the girls that I played with, we played in America, we played against each other in America.
00:08:20
Speaker
And even haven't yet been able to play against any in the overseas life, but we all know each other over like, hey, do want meet up somewhere?
00:08:31
Speaker
And yeah, so. And I mean, it wasn't just at Lincoln Prep where you played against big names and then in college, but also at under-17, under-19 World Cups, you went up against Paige Beckers, Caitlin Clark, I think Aaliyah Boston, yeah Jordan Horstyn, Diamond Miller, former Sydney Flames, Celeste Taylor was in that American team.
00:08:52
Speaker
yeah Is that something, like, do you hear whispers about just around the tournament, like who's there and how big those names are meant to be? Or do you just kind of look back now?
00:09:03
Speaker
And think about who you played.
Canada's Basketball Prominence
00:09:05
Speaker
Definitely near that age group where all of us are starting to get recruited by colleges, you start to understand that there's like rankings and it's a lot bigger and this stuff like that. So it's kind of cool to put the the name to the face and then you actually get a play against their game.
00:09:21
Speaker
And looking back at it now, it's like, oh, wow, like i actually actually know you. Like we know of each other. We played against each other for so long. And just to see how much they've like excelled at the game.
00:09:33
Speaker
So it's it's something so cool because it's like, I know you. Like I've known you since I was like 14, 15. And now here we are grown adults playing the same game that we fell in love with.
00:09:44
Speaker
And it's just like a cool community to be a part of because it's like, go girls, like pop off, you know? Have you been watching any of the current FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup on YouTube where Canada are having a a two and zero at the moment?
Absence of Canadian Women's League
00:10:01
Speaker
Yeah. Love the girls. I love that Canada is continuing to grow, especially on the international stage because we do want to be ah a forefront and a competitive country.
00:10:11
Speaker
So I love that the girls are representing well and they're crushing it and I hope they keep going good. Do you sometimes, like, when you're representing Canada, is there kind of like an underlying idea that Canada is kind of like, you know, USA's kind of like little cousin or little sibling in the same way that New Zealand is seen as Australia's kind of younger sibling kind of thing?
00:10:38
Speaker
Well, okay, so it depends on who you ask. But for me, I'm like Canada all the way. Like, of course, of course. But then all my American friends are like, No, like not at all. So, I mean, it depends. I definitely think Canada is consistently trying to push the battle and be up there because we are up there in the world. We're not I think we're like fifth right now. i could be wrong, but on the national stage, we aren't just a team that's like, okay, like we're playing this team. It's more so like, okay, like we have to lock in and us continuing to push that will be so great for the game of Canada basketball. well
00:11:15
Speaker
So it depends on who you ask. but I say we're right up there. Because does Canada have a professional women's league but similar to the WNBL? Unfortunately, no. Yeah, no I didn't think so. That's interesting. saying Yeah, we're trying to.
00:11:30
Speaker
i know on the men's side, they started the league and it's starting to gain popularity. So hopefully in the next couple years or so, they'll reach out to the women's side.
College Recruitment Insights
00:11:40
Speaker
When you're at those World Cups, did that ramp up your recruiting as well? Because I know a lot of college coaches go to those tournaments.
00:11:48
Speaker
And especially when you play against the US, all the college coaches are going to be watching that. So at America's Cup and World Cups. So you have lots of college coaches yeah reaching out to you after the World Cups? Yes, I would definitely say as an international player coming from Canada, even though we're neighbors, not a lot of American coaches know about Canadians.
00:12:09
Speaker
So it's either that they have to go be a part of you live in Toronto and you're big in social media or you go play down in the States. in like tournaments but as an international stage it's one of the best best things as a player because all the colleges coaches go and it's the top 12 athletes from your country so obviously they're going to have a lot more eyes on you and definitely after my tournaments in the international stage my recruiting definitely blew up a lot more so it's definitely really really helpful once you're in the system i was going to say i'm always interested to know like
00:12:45
Speaker
the contact between the athletes and the recruiters in those situations? Because who's kind of like the conduit in between kind of giving your personal information for colleges to contact you? Or do they just have some, you know, secret service agents doing that part of the job for them?
00:13:03
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, quite interesting with me because I played for my provincial team, which was Alberta. And I was literally, I think, 13 at the time. And we went to a tournament down in Chicago.
00:13:14
Speaker
And obviously you submit like, oh, your phone numbers and all that. and then yeah you create a profile and then you go and we go back to canada but we're not like a eybl team where it's like you stay as a unit so it was actually interesting that once when i moved to to hamilton ah and i was more easy to be accessible and be like hey bren bren bren a lot of the college coaches were like we tried to reach you when you were like really young, but we, you went ghost.
00:13:44
Speaker
Like we couldn't find all your information. We didn't know how to contact you. So we're like, oh, where did this girl go? So then ah they're like, it's kind of crazy that we've been trying to find you. And then now here you are. And now it worked out in my favor, but in sort of sense, like, yeah, it's, it's a tricky one.
00:14:02
Speaker
So well you should go on that show, Hunted. was that easy looking to lose. Yeah. Imagine that on a photo. Like I've been trying to find you for years. like so Any other context that sounds creepy when like, hey, I've been trying to find you since you were 13. Like, whoa.
00:14:24
Speaker
Yeah. back I'm sorry. Exactly. And so when when did UCLA first reach out and who reached out to
UCLA Experience and Growth
00:14:35
Speaker
you from UCLA?
00:14:36
Speaker
Okay, so they first started to reach out, I would say, my grade 10th summer, like probably like around the normal normal times, like grade 9, 10-ish.
00:14:50
Speaker
And um Tony Newman reached out to me. Shout out to Tony because love tony yeah he's the he's the international guy. So he reached out to me and we got into conversation. And yeah, that that's kind of...
00:15:06
Speaker
things fell into place and went on a visit and so on and so forth. Yeah. Because um Tony, I know from Chantal Horvat, who obviously was an international recruit for UCLA.
00:15:18
Speaker
Yeah. Shout out to Chantal. So unfortunately your time at UCLA was interrupted not only by injuries, but also the pandemic.
00:15:29
Speaker
So you pretty much had to rehab an injury and do online classes back in Calgary. Was it still a positive experience UCLA? Oh, most definitely.
00:15:41
Speaker
Yes, I definitely changed my mindset throughout my college experience because I did go through a lot of hardships. Like it was quite back to back to back and it was discouraging and sad. And of course I went through an identity crisis because any athlete would, but the people in the program itself had such strong pillars to help me get through it that I never felt like I was done or my career was over.
00:16:08
Speaker
or that I couldn't come through it. And they actually really invested in me off the court, which is something that I'm so thankful for. Like they said, OK, well, you can't do physical basketball, but you can grow your mind in the game by watching film.
00:16:23
Speaker
And then instead of just like, OK, well, not everything is about basketball. Like, what else are you interested in? OK, well, you like this? Well, let's invest and do a bunch of stuff and put you in places that you can grow in in this and find out what you like.
00:16:35
Speaker
and They did like a bunch of things that put a lot of smile on my face and really made me realize, OK, like basketball brands on pause, but the person brand is constantly growing and being invested and poured into. And that's something that I really look back onto and the the relationships that I made. i don't think I would be as close to a lot of my teammates that are my friends for life now if I Didn't go through my injury, which is so crazy because now I have an opportunity to connect with athletes all over the world that went through such a hardship of injury because mine was quite bad. So be able to have a voice and be like, will be okay. Like you can come out the other side is something that's like, I'm really thankful to share it with people because I know how hard it could be. So i had a great time of college. So it just depends on how you look at it, but it wasn't always easy and rainbows.
00:17:30
Speaker
That's for sure. What was that one of the biggest lessons you learned about yourself during that period, especially when you were kind of offered opportunities to learn more about yourself ah that, you know, that wasn't the athlete?
Personal Growth and Legacy
00:17:45
Speaker
Yeah, so one of the biggest things that really kind of um shocked me and that I really wanted to invest in is that how do I want to be remembered? like What do I want my legacy to be? Because obviously I'm going into college. I want to have the records. I want to do this for the school. I want to do all these things, all these personal accolades.
00:18:04
Speaker
But once that kind of got taken away from me in the sense, I took a step back and i was like, OK, well, how do I want to be remembered? And the biggest thing that really hit me that I always wanted to invest in is How?
00:18:16
Speaker
do I want to be remembered in the sense of my teammates eyes? ah do they want ah Do I want them to remember me as the teammate that's the girl that scores like 25 plus points, a double, double, all these great accolades, but as a terrible teammate?
00:18:28
Speaker
And I'm like, no, i don't I don't want that at all. I want to be the teammate that's like, oh, i when I need someone to talk to her, I want to hang out with somebody. I want to go to that person or, oh my gosh, remember when we did all this stuff and this is so fun. I miss you. Like, I want to be that teammate instead of someone that's like, oh, she's good at basketball, but She was a terrible teammate. Like, I never want to see her again. i want to be that teammate that's like, no, let me call her. Let's go here. Let's go there. So once i realized that, okay, the game, there's more to basketball. Like, this is life.
00:18:57
Speaker
Basketball provided me a lot of opportunities, but with life, we're people, we're human, and we want to connect. And that's something that was like, okay, I want to pour into others. And it honestly reciprocated in my sense, and they poured into me too, and now I have best
Interests Beyond Basketball
00:19:12
Speaker
friends for life. So...
00:19:14
Speaker
You also came away with a degree in history. Any plans to use that soon or just fully focusing on basketball? I mean, my degree in history is really cool. I am interested in learning a bunch of history and all that. Shout out to history.
00:19:32
Speaker
But no, like I'm not wanting to possibly go into a career in that. I'm actually really interested in social media and content creation and connecting with people and doing more hands on stuff. But maybe later on down the road.
00:19:47
Speaker
Definitely I might you know dabble in my historian side. But as of right now, basketball is definitely the the forefront. And, I mean, you combined both because you clipped up Riley's 16 threes. That's history right there.
00:20:04
Speaker
Exactly. Exactly. I'm part of historic time. Yes. Just creating, ah contributing to history ah through digital footprint as well.
00:20:17
Speaker
Yes, thank you. See, there we go. Now I can spin my green sounding in like a muse in it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We get it. We get it. Yeah, thanks, guys.
Joining Albury Wodonga Bandits
00:20:27
Speaker
And so moving to this season with the Bandits, you're fresh off a season in Germany where you played against Katie Jones. Is that correct?
00:20:38
Speaker
Yes. Or you're in Germany. So coming down to Aubrey Wodonga, what did Sammy Mack say about the Bandits that helped convince you to sign this season?
00:20:50
Speaker
Man, that guy was really convincing. So he did a great job. But definitely one of the biggest things is how invested he is as a coach to his players and the type of schedule that we have and the learning opportunities that we have, especially being around such a community-based program. It definitely feels like I have such a big support system, which is something so huge being the international and traveling around the world.
00:21:20
Speaker
Having a great, strong foundation definitely helps you thrive because you have people like behind your back and like, yeah, go, which is always nice to have. But Sammy himself and Rob and all all the coaches, they really poured into me while on the phone. and They're like, you sound like a great person. We would we love your game. we We definitely see you in places on the court where we think you could even grow. like One of the biggest things that he mentioned is that Well, you're really long and we would love for you to guard a guard.
00:21:50
Speaker
And I'm able to push myself in that type of sense because I never really had to guard a guard unless I do like a hard hedge. But being exposed to players at at this skill level definitely helps me grow my game because I am hard hedging, but then sometimes we also switch.
Australian Basketball Style
00:22:07
Speaker
So now I'm guarding a really fast girl, but that's growing my game for the next level, which is great because Defense, you have to grow in that always. So even in that, and then offensively too, I'm definitely working on my game inside the post. In Germany, I was a solid four, I would say. Like I would play inside, but more so I did a pick and pop and ah I shot the three a lot. So then when I came here and I'm more inside, I'm starting to develop my game, be more comfortable with that.
00:22:37
Speaker
And that's something that's awesome to me because now I'm developing so many skills but like focusing on areas of where I can grow, which is important because I want to master certain skills and not just be good at everything. You might as well be great at one thing.
00:22:52
Speaker
That makes sense. so yes Do you find like now you've played in Canada, the US, Germany, Australia, um just based on your description as well, do you find that the Australian style of game ah is a little bit more versatile in that way where um players are given a bit more freedom to have those more versatile set of skills to be able to play like three to five or guard a three to five?
00:23:19
Speaker
Yeah, most definitely. I think the FIBA game itself has evolved quite a lot, especially in ah in Australia. And it's definitely showcased that because I know from playing from an international stage with Canada and then playing in America, it was different. Like the game was different, but it was the same. And I had to learn...
00:23:39
Speaker
Different areas, but now I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable. Probably the most comfortable I felt was in Australia. And I love how, you know, the games being played. And I would love to continue to see where other countries thrive in that. But I definitely think Australia is one of them.
Support from Lauren Jackson
00:23:55
Speaker
Because there's another big ah that hails from Aubrey who's pretty good at the pick and pop for the three as well. ah ah Young LJ, has she made any appearances to your team trainings this season just to stick her head in and give you any tips?
00:24:14
Speaker
We've definitely seen her around. i know she's thriving in retirement, but it's also hard in the sense of what she's going through because retirement is hard because she's she's done something for so long.
00:24:25
Speaker
And i haven't had the opportunity to get in the gym with her just yet, but I know that that opportunity is there. And once time fits, so we'll make it happen. But no, she's she's a supporter. She reaches out to us. She watches our game. So we know that She's in our corner, which is something so awesome to have. So she's great. She's a legend.
00:24:48
Speaker
And what about when Sammy was um having conversations to you earlier about coming to play for Aubrey? Did he tell you much about the town and how, you know, it is a it is a big country town. It is a little bit separate from everywhere else, but country towns have that big supportive feel to it,
Community Connection in Albury
00:25:05
Speaker
too. So did he tell you much about Aubrey before you got there?
00:25:08
Speaker
I mean, just like, you know, the basic general stuff. Like i I also Googled photos of it and I was like, OK, like I didn't really understand Australia and like where I'm at.
00:25:19
Speaker
I was like, oh, I'm only three hours from Melbourne. Like this is fine. So I mean, like, no, yes. Like I kind of wasn't expecting to be like downtown, but i don't mind.
00:25:33
Speaker
Yeah, I like the town.
00:25:36
Speaker
And ah you mentioned the community. um did we've We've had other Aubrey Wodonga players on the on the pod. And do do you also get ah stopped in the street by fans saying, you know, how supportive they are of you?
00:25:51
Speaker
Yes, which is something that's so nice and so welcoming. like I love any type of person that comes up to me and says, hey, good game. Oh, my gosh. And it's also funny, too, because they also know my name. like They'll be like, Brynn, hey, guess what?
00:26:06
Speaker
I'm like, hey, which is so fun because I don't really know if people know who I am. But then once you have that connection with people, it's something that I really hold near and dear to my heart because ah you know, I don't have my immediate family out here. So it feels like I have family out here when people do that.
00:26:26
Speaker
And have they taken you out to experience a lot of the Australian culture in a sense of, you know, going down to the local RSL or the schnitzel chicken stichel special or getting in the the meat tray raffle or anything like that?
Exploring Australian Culture
00:26:42
Speaker
Oh, okay. No, I haven't done anything like that just yet. But I did go on this like really cool hike about 15 minutes outside of Aubrey. And I saw some kangaroos, which I've been dying to finally see. So I did that and that was great.
00:26:58
Speaker
And I just have gone to like these old class, not old, but like classic historical buildings that I don't really know the name of, but it had like a truck on the roof. So like that was cool.
00:27:09
Speaker
um But yeah, that's kind of all the things that I've mostly done. I know a lot of people are like, hey, you need to go here. You need to go there. But when time gives it to me, I'll definitely head out there. But yeah, it's been
Team's Competitive Focus
00:27:23
Speaker
good.
00:27:23
Speaker
The team obviously last year, they went 20-0 and then lost two finals games in a row, got knocked out. But you're right back in title contention this year. um what What's the mood around the camp?
00:27:36
Speaker
I mean, because you've got some returning players who are obviously desperate to put that that season behind them, but also some some new new faces as well. I think going into this is that every team is competitive and especially this league, no matter who it is, it's evident last year you went 20 and 0 when playoffs start.
00:27:58
Speaker
It's fresh, no matter what it is whatever you can be gone in an instant. And I think we moving forward, we're learning from our mistakes, from our losses and, or even stuff that we messed up in our wins and trying to narrow them down. So when playoffs do come that we're ready to go because we know those games in the past, they were just learning experiences.
00:28:18
Speaker
And going into playoffs, we're going to narrow those down. So we're feeling good. We're feeling confident. We're feeling ready to go. And we know that the job needs to get done. I love that you mentioned things you mess up in wins because when you win so often, if you don't learn from your wins, you're not learning a lot at all, are you?
00:28:37
Speaker
Right. Yeah. I mean, you could go watch film and be like, okay, this could have been better. But you're like... I mean, we got the win. So like, what is, you know, there's not really that type of sense of urgency, but once you lose a basketball game, when but you weren't supposed to, or something goes wrong, you really do a self reflect look at the the film and be like, well, how can I be better for my teammates?
00:28:59
Speaker
Because we don't want to lose again. And that's, what's great about our team is that we have such a competitive drive and a will to be better. And that we are taking accountability of our mistakes.
00:29:10
Speaker
um of our mistakes slash errors and trying to narrow them down and have an open mindset to the future.
Bryn's Hobbies and Personality
00:29:17
Speaker
I did mention earlier that we start and end every conversation with the same two questions.
00:29:22
Speaker
So our final question of the evening is, who is Grin Maskowicz off the court? Off the court. Okay, so I am literally just the same. Like, I am a girl. Like, I love to do the girly things. I love to get my nails done, hair done, lashes, all of that. But I really love to invest in people around me. I picked up crocheting.
00:29:45
Speaker
I have a lot of hobbies that I'm like, why do i have so many interests? But, you know, I'm into baking right now. That's like my newest thing. And social media, art, art.
00:29:58
Speaker
hanging out, going for, you know, some new workouts. I'm really into nutrition. have a bunch of little interests, side hobbies that I like. So, i mean, I'm just constantly trying to evolve and continue to grow as a person and try to challenge myself with new things.
Importance of Team Bonding
00:30:14
Speaker
So, yeah, I'm just trying to trying to keep going, which I feel like I'm doing a good job at. So, we'll see what my next idea would be. a Who knows? Have you started baking anything that you can take with you on the road trip to share with your team on the bus?
00:30:31
Speaker
Oh, yeah. So I accidentally made a batch of like 50 cookies. So we're going to be we're going to be snacking with a little sweet treat. So, yeah, accidentally. Yeah.
00:30:45
Speaker
The sizing was a little off, I guess. Oops. Oops. Were you using like metric system like to measure or were you still? No, I just doubled it. Because if we're to have cookie, we'll have, you know, a cookie.
00:31:00
Speaker
You know, you can't just have. yeah You got all that effort. You may as well, like you said, just double it and make more. you Do the hard work early and you'll be rewarded for longer.
00:31:11
Speaker
Exactly. You get it. you get it. what What are the road trips like up? Because you're on the on the team bus most of the time on the way to games in city. What what what is the vibe like on the all-Riwodonga team bus heading up?
00:31:25
Speaker
oh it's dip there's vibes all around there's chatting but then there's also like scrolling on social media and then there's chatting and then there's music and it's just a bunch a whirlwind of different vibes but it all works out and we never really get annoyed of each other which is like awesome because you know sometimes confined space all the time you're like okay no but there's windows for chatting, being on your phone, playing music, singing, cracking jokes.
00:31:54
Speaker
So I definitely love the road trips. I look forward to it because we can only talk to each other if you're on our phones and we like to talk to each other. So lots of chatting. Because in college, I mean, you were in a colt you're in a conference where you fly everywhere, basically.
00:32:11
Speaker
Yes, I was. So you didn't you didn't get the the road trip that like, you know, the mid-major players get of six, seven hours. you Your only drive was to USC. Yeah, yeah. i was I was very spoiled and I'm very thankful for those ah those flights.
00:32:25
Speaker
A very long time ago, and when I played for Canberra, we also had to have a lot of road trips. But looking back on those seasons now, I remember the bus rides more than the games that we played and...
00:32:41
Speaker
who we beat and where we went and if we won or not and where we came on the ladder. I remember more all the stuff off the court, like the bus rides more than anything. ah No, honestly, I definitely think that's where a lot of team chemistry is built and the personalities start to come out that helps us on the basketball court for sure.
00:33:00
Speaker
I mean, most when I played, kind of I played country soccer and most of the people who weren't talking on the team bus were not talking because they were still hung over from Friday night. So definitely, definitely not the elite environment of the road trip.
00:33:15
Speaker
and That's funny. See, that's good for the memories, though, because then you'd be like, hey, remember when? And that just creates such a lifetime bond. So sometimes need those. but I think you make a good point as well about just having that spare time and bonding time with each other around the games. ah Certainly can transfer court to create a little bit more team chemistry, especially when the games come down to the wire.
00:33:43
Speaker
You probably have a little bit more trust in each other because you know each other as a person more than just your teammate. Yeah, exactly. And also you start to develop the comfortableness of being like, hey, so like if I'm coming to set a screen for you and you're rejecting it, do you want me to come do that? Or is this okay? Hey, when I do this move, I'm going to, I'm looking for you here.
00:34:03
Speaker
No, you need to go score the ball. Like those conversations start to come a lot more easier because it's just like, oh, hey, and it's not like, hey, like, I don't know how to approach you with this. Or you're walking on eggshells. It's just more so comfortable and easy to just flow out of conversation. So.
00:34:19
Speaker
We all have an Opals game to watch. Yes. thank you so much for joining us, Brynn. It's been lovely to have your company on this Monday night.
00:34:30
Speaker
And Squin, I'm going to throw to you, because usually i do the send-off, but usually I've led the interview. Squin, what is the last thing we remind everyone of? Brynn, if there's one thing that you take away from your time with Aubrey, it's that you don't sleep on the East.