By Lance Jenkinson
Paul Tsapatolis is only 12-years old, but already stands at 191 centimetres (six-foot-three), laces up size 15 runners and slam dunks a three-metre-high basketball ring in a game.
Tsapatolis has all the physical characteristics to make it to a high level of sport and has turned those attributes into early success on the basketball court.
The Point Cook youngster was recognised with a Sporting Blue award at the School Sports Victoria awards at the MCG earlier this month, nominated by his state coach, Peter Fleming, for his efforts at the School Sports Australia Basketball Championships in Townsville last August, where he was leading scorer with 117 points.
The starting centre totally dominated in Victoria’s grand final loss to Queensland, with a game-high 26 points.
Tsapatolis displayed his all-round skills consistently throughout the tournament to catch the eyes of talent scouts.
“Our coach nominated me because he said I was the best player on the team and, if we didn’t have you, we wouldn’t have come as far,” Tsapatolis told
Star Weekly. “I got the ball, rebounded, posted up, scored inside the paint and shot outside.
“It’s a good award to get.”
The Vic Metro representative was installed as captain of the Melbourne Tigers under-14s and coaches the Seabrook Comets under-12s in the Werribee Basketball Association.
“It’s a good feeling being captain,” he said.
“You’re the leader; you get to tell the players what to do and it’s like it’s your team.”
Tsapatolis has learned from the best. He was coached by none other than Australian basketball great Andrew Gaze at the Tigers last year. “He’s very loud, but he always says it’s not the tone, it’s the information that matters, and that’s what we look at,” Tsapatolis said.
Tsapatolis had extra pep in his step arriving for school at the start of this year.
The former Seabrook Primary School pupil was accepted into the Maribyrnong Sports Academy at Maribyrnong College on a football and basketball scholarship.
His dream is to play sport professionally and to pursue a career in either the AFL, where he supports Collingwood, or the NBA, where he adopted the LA Clippers as his team, watching Blake Griffin in awe.
Tsapatolis is certainly in capable hands when it comes to his coaches at the college.
Peter Fleming is a level three accredited basketball coach with years of experience, while Tsapatolis’s football coach Jordan Russell is a former Carlton and Collingwood defender and Footscray VFL premiership captain.
Tsapatolis is newer to football, having only played two years at Yarraville-Seddon. He is proving a fast learner as one of the best ruckman in the competition for his age.
Tsapatolis’s parents Vicky and Danny are proud of their son’s achievements. Vicky was thrilled he was accepted into the Maribyrnong Sports Academy to pursue his sporting dreams.
“He worked hard and he trained hard all last year,” she said. “There was only a handful of kids selected for both AFL and basketball, so he was lucky to be chosen for both of them.”
