Maddie Garrick: Shepparton, Spain and everywhere in between
Basketball continues to be an engine that drives Garrick's life forward, as she continues to learn and grow through her global adventures and professional athlete.
Photo credit: FIBA.basketball
Maddie Garrick has been running up her Eurail tab over the past four years. With stops in Italy, France, Spain and offseasons in Mexico, travel has been a huge part of her journey, much as it always was.
“I grew up in Shepparton,” she told The Pick and Roll recently. “I moved to the AIS when I was in year 12. I got on scholarship in 2010 at the AIS so that was my first time living out of home. I grew up playing basketball, but I was playing in the VJBL, Friday nights for about six years. [I was commuting to Bulleen] every Friday and Sunday.”
She balanced a few sports for a while and her commitments were a family affair.
“The older I got, the later the games where I’m playing at around 9:45. So I’d finish school on Friday, I’d go do cross-country, walk through the park, get in the car, drive two hours, go play basketball, come home that night. We’d get home around 2:00 or 3:00 in the middle of the night then go and play netball on Saturday morning. Then Sunday morning we would leave at around 4:00 or 5:00 because we had practice and I would do an individual with my coach beforehand and then drive home. But for me it was fine because I would just sleep or do homework or whatever. The fact that my parents did that for six years and the older I get and the more that I have to drive, I don’t know how they did it.”
Thankfully, they did.
Having entered the WNBL in 2009, the 33 year old has spent half her life as a professional basketball player. She spent 13 years suiting up for the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), Bendigo Spirit and Melbourne Boomers before moving overseas full-time. Within that 13 years, she also dipped her toes in international waters playing for Botaş in Turkey during 2019.
“I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and the Turkish League is really tough. I would have liked to go back there, but if you go to a league and you don’t do so great from the first moment, first impressions are really, really important over in Europe. It’s hard to get [a] contract back there.”
Still, the contract found its way to her. “My agent at the time told me there’s an opportunity in Turkey. I was so nervous to go. It wasn’t my best season, but it was the first time that I had been anywhere outside of Australia to play and I grew a lot personally. For the experience and what level I needed to be at and what I needed to improve on, how I had played was not quite there yet. It allowed me to be able to compare myself to where I needed to be. And that was a really good point for me in order to improve that.”
She won back to back WNBL championships in 2013 and 2014 with the Bendigo Spirit. She was a great player in the league and still would be, but there was always a part of her that wanted to explore more.
“I just had this urge, like, every day I’d wake up. I go to practice. I see the same people playing in the league, same people, same coaches, same everything. And I just thought that there’s so many people doing the same thing in a different part of the world. I was drawn to just experience part of the world. I knew that that was going to challenge me and make me grow, professionally and personally. Honestly, I wish I had done it earlier. I’m not saying I have regrets because I think everyone’s path is unique and it happens at the time when you’re ready. But I wish I had done it earlier because I have just enjoyed it so much.”
Of course, her experiences in Australia were incredibly formative and set the foundation for the confidence she now plays with.
“When I think back on so many years and even the first years in the WNBL, it just feels so long ago, but also just the different type of person that I was. When I first got into the WNBL, I was terrified of every single player. I had just put them up on this pedestal and they were such amazing players and I was playing against them. I was even too shy and scared to talk to them because I thought they were just the best thing ever. And then obviously over the years, I had more experiences.”
As much as Garrick was speaking about her shyness entering the league, she was also wary that it was the beginning of her story with basketball, confidence and confidence in basketball.
“I found that’s also why I really loved basketball, because I found my confidence in myself and grew personally, through basketball. And yeah, just even thinking about the very start to now, it just incredible, incredible experiences, but just a whole different person. And the journey itself, both as a player and a person - just insane.”
The line between an athlete’s identity in and out of their sport is often blurry and grey. This can be seen countless times throughout the history of every sporting league and there’s no wonder. From a young age they’re placed in a hyper-competitive setting in pursuit of a professional career in their field, or court. Most people only have to think about that during or after a university undergraduate, around the age of 21. For athletes, that starts when they enter high school. Once that profession is realised for an athlete, they then backtrack to rediscover their identity outside of their career.
“To be honest, there are still parts of me that I tie to professional sport. It’s just the kind of environment that we’re in. As much as we play on a team, we compete against each other within the team and getting a contract for next season is dependent on how you go individually and the decisions of other people. So it is the environment that you are in.”
Her honesty cuts through and affirms some of the assumptions made by sceptical sports fans, yet she does so in a no nonsense sort of way. It also hasn’t affected her team performance as she has contributed to winning basketball in Spain this year and France last season. In Italy, she played for both Valdarno, who have since been relegated to the second division, and Brixia, who have found themselves in the bottom three of the standings every year since Garrick left.
With Brixia in the 2023-24 season, she led the league in scoring, averaging 16.9 points per game. The year prior, she averaged 18.1 points per game with Valdarno, yet the scoring title went to Jess Shepard.
“Italy was my first full experience in Europe and it was the best thing I ever did in my life. So for me, Italy is always going to be, I think, number one, because I just had the most amazing time of my life. I played such great basketball. I was so happy and I backed myself for doing something that was pretty scary. Taking a chance on yourself and backing yourself into something unknown. It gave me confidence and freedom offensively, and allowed me to explore different areas of my game I didn’t even know I had.”
She made this move when she was 30 years old, and has had a whole new lease on basketball ever since.
“There was talk when I was around 30, people were starting to ask me, you know, ‘are you thinking about retirement or where are you going to retire?’ And I was getting really annoyed at it because I felt like I hadn’t even scratched the surface. For me, when I went overseas, it felt as if that was just the beginning for me. It gave me a whole new lease on my career. It opened doors that I had never experienced or even knew were, you know, there. And it’s just been this incredible journey, and I feel like I’ve got even more longevity and more to give still.”
Garrick points to Opals captain Cayla George: “Look at people in Australia like Cayla George. She’s killing it. She went and got a WNBA championship. She went and got a WNBL championship. And she just keeps going, getting better and better. And I love what she says, she’ll retire when she says so.”
As for the doors it opened, Garrick is retrospective in understanding that each step of her career was consequential in landing her in two of the strongest basketball leagues in the world, France and Spain.
“Italy unlocked so many other opportunities like Mexico. If I didn’t play in Italy, I couldn’t play in France. If I didn’t play in France, I wouldn’t have played in other places. You’re also playing against world-class athletes every day and people who play for the national team in those countries. It forces you to grow whether you’re comfortable or not.”
Each stop has influenced her game. “Mexico gave me intensity and passion and flair. Then France challenged me probably more tactically and physically and defensively. And mentally it was a pretty tough season, but it was so good and so professional. Then Spain is pushing me to become an even more well-rounded player.”
Garrick has played for both Estepona and Estudiantes in this Spanish season after transferring at the end of January. Estepona has gone through major changes to their roster and fired their coach of three seasons, Francis Tomé, in early December. Instability has defined their season which impacted the play of the team as a whole, as well as each player’s individual form.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever done that. It was just an environment that was tough. It felt as though it got to a point where, no matter how I was playing, I had to make 100% of the shots from the very first moment I got on the court. It was just not an environment that was suiting me. When I asked to leave, two players had already left, they had fired the coach already and the new coach brought in more players. Other players had asked to leave too but I was fortunate enough that I had a two way out clause in my contract.”
Since Garrick left Estepona, they have gone 3-2 without her, while her new club have gone 5-0. Estudiantes sits with a record of 10-13 while her former team are at 9-14. The two teams face off against each other for their next match on March 7 at 5:30am, Australia time (of course) which is sure to be an interesting game for Garrick. She has started to get back to efficient play with Estudiantes and that upcoming fixture against her old side is definitely one to watch.
On whether or not midseason transfers are common, Garrick was certain. “In Spain? Absolutely! I’ve never been in a league that has had so many changes in players and in coaches. It is insane, I’ve never seen anything like it. In my career back home I think there was only one time I ever saw it happen and it was a few years ago when Shyla Heal moved from Sydney to Townsville. I think that’s the only time that I had seen it in Australia. I remember everyone was like ‘what the hell, that’s crazy’ but it’s so normal in Europe, especially in Spain it’s insane.
“Players come in and out of Europe because they’re not performing or they have injuries but I’ve never been in a league where it happens so frequently.”
This world of basketball has been central to Garrick’s life over the past few years and it feels like she hasn’t had a chance to stop and breathe for a while. As many experiences as she’s been amassing across the world, it doesn’t come without its challenges.
“Last season was the first time in a long time I had a ‘break.’ The French season was super tough, and it’s the longest European season. So I had a break, I wanted to have a summer. Because the other thing with Europe is I usually travel winter to winter. I was playing in Mexico where you play back to back games every week on Friday and Saturday. In the last three years, not including this season, I was only home for 62 days, I think it was.”
Just two months in a three year stretch would make anyone homesick, even if you are playing basketball in Spain. This has impacted her in many ways, even down to her accent.
“The funniest thing is when I first got to Europe, because I had such a strong Australian accent, no one could understand a word I would say. And because I was from Shepparton, it was a little bit of slang, bit of this, bit of that. Literally none of my teammates could understand me so I’ve had to learn over the last four seasons to slow down, pronounce my words in English. And now when I go back home, I have so many people in my family say, ‘oh, you have a European accent?’”
Her reflections provide a juxtaposition between where she is and where she came from. As she progresses in her career, the basics ring true. She took those reflections all the way back to how her trail started being blazed.
“I absolutely loved growing up in the country and it was amazing until I couldn’t compete at a high level, that’s when I had to go to Melbourne. When I was around 15 there wasn’t even really a domestic basketball comp because there wasn’t enough girls. So that’s why it was really good that I could go to Melbourne. Obviously that took a whole lot more commitment and everything. But if I hadn’t done that it would have been a different story.”
That insight is an unfortunate reality for girls. It is becoming the case less, sure, but it’s just one of the ways that the pathway women take to becoming professional basketball players can be impacted. It also shows that the outcome is, traditionally, a story of inherent resilience, with Garrick’s first stop being the AIS.
Making the AIS is one thing, but to make the most of it while living away from your family at such a young age isn’t always the case. It’s also another parallel from Garrick as a junior basketball player to her current situation.
“I actually was part of a study that we did at the AIS. We had a floatation tank. We did visualisation. We did two shooting sessions a week on top of all of our practices. And then half of the group would do visualisation in a floatation tank. So they had a video of your shot technique, what you need to fix and then, pictures or videos of professionals doing it. So for me, I had Penny Taylor, Lauren Jackson, Patty Mills as well as me with them. And I had lines and everything of how to shoot. It would go for about five minutes and then for the rest of the 30 minutes, or however long you were in there, you just float around in the dark and think about that and visualise, and everything. Or fall asleep, whatever you like to do.”
This laid the foundation for something that Garrick still practices today.
“Visualisation on injuries can help speed up the healing process, shooting technique, performance anxiety, just calming your nervous system. That’s a huge thing I’m learning at the moment. And the other thing that is so big coming out is how trauma and stress is literally held in the fascia of the body that keeps you all together.”
Her understanding of human anatomy while drawing on tools she learned two decades ago and still uses today ties so many parts of her identity together. She’s curious, she wants to understand all of the intricacies in and around her profession and it doesn’t seem like she’ll stop learning any time soon.
“The difference between an athlete who wins a gold medal and one that doesn’t usually is what’s between the ears. It can be the slightest things, especially tying identity to your sport and all that. There’s so many different areas to work on and the mind is a muscle. So you go and work on your skills, you go and work on your strength and everything. It is the biggest thing that you have a mind-body connection. You might be in the fittest, best form of your life, but if your mind muscle is not connecting and firing the right muscles, you’re not going to be able to perform at your best.”
A true student of the game extending beyond the court. Garrick’s approach to her profession is not only broad reaching, it’s future thinking. This naturally flows into her personal life as she expressed her desire to one day start a family without missing a moment of her basketball career.
“In the last break between playing in France and Spain, I froze my eggs. I talk about it openly because I want to squeeze out everything that I have in my career because it’s going to end. And I don’t want to have any regrets. And I just love the experiences. I mean, some of my best experiences and times of my life have been away from the basketball court, but in a different country.
“When I turned 30 I wanted to give myself a birthday present of freezing my eggs. But then I got my first overseas contract, and then I learned very quickly that things happened very quickly, as soon as you get your contract. So I didn’t have the time. And because the seasons are so long and I went from Italy straight to Mexico, then I went home for two weeks. Then I went back to Italy, went home for two weeks, went back to Mexico. And then I went straight to France, and then I had the long period of time off.
“That whole process of freezing the eggs is something I’m going to be speaking more about because I think it’s still a bit of a taboo subject. People are like, ‘oh, you should be young when you have kids.’ But my there’s so many, it doesn’t have to look one single way, basically. And yeah, I finally had that time of two, three months for everything to fall in line because it is dependent on body things and timing. And so I did that when I could and it was really great. It was really great to do that.”
That part of her story is relatively new. As she said, it’s something she wants to explore more in the public realm to amend the existing stigma around it. It also hits on two core parts of Garrick’s story; that it’s still being written, and that she uses her platform for good. Having a huge social media following was never the goal for Garrick, but at nearly 55,000 followers, she would be first in the WNBL by about 20,000.
“I think it really started in 2020 because it doesn’t matter where I am, I like having fun and making people laugh. It’s the one thing that I love and during Covid all we could do is stay connected via social media. It keeps me entertained and the main thing is I know what I’ve been through and I want to be able to share my experiences, tough experiences, great experiences, but also show that, whatever you want to do is possible. At the end of the day, I’m just a regular person. I want to have fun. I want to make people laugh. And I love different things like travel, fashion, motivating people.”
Garrick’s identity transcends every part of her lifestyle. Whether that’s playing basketball in a different country, understanding the psychology of a professional athlete, analysing this psychology in her own life, posting on social media, and everything in between, she makes it her own. She has rich experiences that she approaches with an open mind, with many doors still unopened. They’re key characteristics to a genuine person and she is every part of that.
Her basketball journey feels like it’s only halfway through with more to come, including a potential return to Australia in the European offseason.
“I am thinking about maybe coming back to NBL1 because I would love to play in front of my family and friends. I have two nephews now, so that’s important to me.”
Australian basketball fans might just get a chance to see Garrick on home soil in the near future. Whether that eventuates or not, right now feels the perfect time to take a pulse check amidst her career.
“The person that I have become through basketball, from being a young, shy, not so confident kid to finding that confidence and finding myself within the sport, to then be able to express that away from the court, have the confidence to be able to take a risk, go play overseas and meet people that I would never have met before, it’s just been incredible. I got to a point where I played in Australia for 13 years, and then there was just a part of me that, yes, I wanted to go play overseas for basketball, but I just needed to go somewhere else.”
Garrick’s reflectiveness is equally boundless and ubiquitous. She knows what’s behind, she doesn’t know what’s ahead, but she knows who she is. Her team is just one game out of the finals with eight games remaining. Their run home is tough, with their last four games against top 6 teams, including Chloe Bibby’s Girona. If Estudiantes enter the postseason it will be on hot form and they could make some serious noise come May.
From humble beginnings to excellence throughout Europe, Garrick has never forgotten who she is. Regardless of how far away from home she is, she has only grown closer to her own identity. With every door ajar her career could take her anywhere and she’s clearly demonstrated a willingness and openness to do so. We don’t know where the Maddie Garrick story will end up, we just know there are a few chapters left unwritten.