Geelong Supercats sweat on Sara Blicavs’ availability ahead of NBL1 season

Clearly Geelong’s best basketballer, Sara Blicavs is facing a choice about her NBL1 season with less than a month before round 1.

Sara Blicavs cruises in to the basket. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

The Geelong Supercats remain unsure whether star forward Sara Blicavs will play with the club this year as she weighs up taking time off to look after her body.

Less than a month out from the NBL1 season-opener, Supercats female coach Matthew Paton confirmed the club was still waiting from confirmation from the Olympian about whether she would don the uniform this year.

Sara Blicavs in Geelong with the Southside Flyers last month. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

But Paton said the Opals regular wouldn’t play anywhere else and she “is not going to be anything but a Supercat at this stage”.

After being drafted into the Australian Tokyo Olympic squad at late notice in 2021, Blicavs has hardly had a moment to catch her breath, playing NBL1 with the Supercats, WNBL with Southside Flyers and winning a bronze medal in the FIBA World Cup late last year.

The NBL1 South competition has been brought forward nearly three weeks from its 2022 starting date, with the Supercats to face Kilsyth Cobras in round 1 on April 1 and Paton said the tighter turnaround could limit Blicavs’ availability as she tends to her body.

Blicavs did not respond when contacted by the Geelong Addy.

Sara Blicavs in Australian colours during the world cup. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

“She has had a pretty gruelling schedule with the NBL1 into world champs and WNBL and the NBL1 has obviously moved its fixture to be earlier in the year this year,” Paton said.

“It wouldn’t surprise if she, like a number of WNBL athletes, erred on the side of caution.

“She obviously remains in close communication with the club and is not going to be anything but a Supercat … for all intents and purposes from our end, planning wise we are planning for Sara to be involved in some capacity this season.”

If Blicavs chose not to play with the Supercats, it would be the second high-profile departure from the club after male player Matt Johns couldn’t come to terms on a new deal with Geelong despite breaking into the NBL this season.

Paton said it was on Blicavs to look after her body as she eyes another Olympic campaign in Paris next year.

“While we would love to have her involved at every opportunity, as athletes … they need to be able to look after themselves physically and mentally,” he said.

Paton said “there will be a number of new faces” on the Supercats roster in 2023, with the club to make recruiting announcements in coming weeks.

Originally published as Geelong Supercats sweat on Sara Blicavs’ availability ahead of NBL1 season