Weston Tedcastle fulfils dream of representing the nation

Another Territory athlete has pulled on the national strip for the first time this year, fulfilling a childhood dream in the process.

Northern Territory's Weston Tedcastle made his debut for the Aussie Spinners at the 2024 U23 Asia Oceania Championship. Picture: Aussie Rollers Facebook.

A proud Territorian recently fulfilled his childhood dream as he made his Australian representative debut.

Weston Tedcastle is already a dual NWBL champion with the Darwin Salties and national junior champion with WA.

And this week has pulled on the green and gold of Australia at the 2024 U23 Asia Oceania Championships in Thailand.

Still in the infancy of his career, Tedcastle predicted his debut back in August during an interview with this masthead.

“My goal is to hopefully play for Australia one day,” he said.

The basketballer is determined to not get overwhelmed by the next level, focusing on the task ahead.

“It’s still sinking in,” he said.

“It’s such a surreal feeling, and I’m just trying to soak it all in while staying focused on what’s ahead.

“It’s been a dream for as long as I can remember.

“Now that I’m here, it’s all about putting in the hard work, staying grounded, and making every opportunity count.

“I want to give my absolute best and contribute to the team’s success in any way I can.”

Weston Tedcastle (left) receiving his Spinners jersey from Salties teammate and Spinners co-captain Jaylen Brown. Picture: Aussie Rollers Facebook.

Tedcastle said a lot of hard work and dedication has led to where he is today and is even more stoked by how his parents and family have reacted to his achievement.

“I’m proud to have reached this point, it’s been a lot of hard work and sacrifice,” he said.

“But honestly, seeing how proud my family is means even more to me.

“They’ve been my biggest supporters through it all, so this is as much their achievement as it is mine.”

Tedcastle isn’t the only Saltie in the Australian crew with teammate and Spinners captain Jaylen Brown, as well as manager Krittika Divadkar and assistant coach Jason Bryant.

DBA executive Kerri Savidge said it was one of her proudest career moments to see young guys like Brown and Tedcastle succeed.

“To see Brown’s growth on and off the court and to have the co-captaincy is fantastic,” she said.

“Then to have him mentor Wes at such a young age, to be in his first green and gold is amazing.

“Having Krittika and Jason involved at the management and coaching level just shows the recipe for success has been progressive planning and development for all.”

Weston Tedcastle played for Western Australia in the Junior Basketball Championships.

Savidge said the introduction of new competition management at the top had been instrumental in rejuvenating the competition and its players.

“Firstly the success for wheelchair basketball has been the introduction of a new competition management entity WBA who did a marvellous job of co-ordinating a ‘proper season’,” she said.

“Then the nucleus of the Salties team coming from or moving to Darwin for the season has helped so much with community engagement and cohesiveness.

“The whole program has been so successful due to the involvement of great people on and off the court who want the same success for the sport.”

Savidge heaped praise on Territory wheelchair basketball legends Tom O’Neill-Thorne and Clarence McCarthy Grogan (CJ) for inspiring young ballers such as Tedcastle.

“One of the biggest motivators for a Salties wheelchair basketball team was to provide a pathway for local athletes who would have had to move from Darwin,” she said.

“It’s been a huge motivator from Tom and CJ to create a legitimate pathway for people like Wes, and to see him wear the green and gold in this tournament is testament to the legacy that everyone here wanted from the start.”

Tedcastle has found decent minutes out on the court, averaging 4.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 2.3 steals and 12 and a half minutes per game with two games left.

Originally published as Weston Tedcastle fulfils dream of representing the nation