From Sunbury to the triple century: Blicavs' incredible journey to 300 games

On Friday, Sara Blicavs will become just the 23rd player in WNBL history to play 300 games in the competition.

The achievement in itself is incredible.

But when you factor in the potentially career ending back injury, which forced her to undergo a spinal fusion and disc replacement in March 2024, the accomplishment is nothing short of amazing.

"It's quite nice to look back at my career and go, can't believe I'm still here and still playing after everything I've been through," Blicavs said.

"There's been a lot of adversity in regards to injury, lack of confidence and there's been times where I wanted to quit.

"But I'm still here kicking on so it [300 games] is pretty special.

"There's a lot of girls that don't even get the chance to play WNBL and here I am into my 16th season playing my 300th game.

"I'm very grateful, I'm very proud of myself and I'm very thankful for clubs and coaches who've always taken a chance on me and given me the opportunities.

"I'm giving myself my own flowers because I'm very proud of myself. It's like a pat on the back for me."

Born in Sunbury, Blicavs, who grew up in a sporting family alongside brother Mark (2022 AFL premiership winner with Geelong), played her junior basketball with the Sunbury Jets and Melbourne Tigers, which led to her representing her state on numerous occasions.

Then in 2009, she not only joined the Australian Institute of Sport on a scholarship but also made her junior Australian debut at the FIBA Oceania Under 16s Championships in Brisbane.

This was followed by selection for the FIBA Under 17s World Championships in France (where Australia finished seventh) and the FIBA Under 19s World Championship in Chile (finishing fourth).

While at the AIS, Blicavs made her WNBL debut during the 2009-10 season, which was the first of three seasons with the club.

A one-year stint at Dandenong followed before joining the Bendigo Spirit on a two-year deal.

In her first season with the Spirit, Blicavs won a WNBL title, defeating Townsville 94-83 in the Grand Final.

At the end of her second season with Bendigo, before re signing with Dandenong, Blicavs made her Opals debut at the 2015 FIBA Oceania Championship, helping her country claim gold.

In making her senior debut for Australia, Blicavs followed in the footsteps of both her parents, Andris and Karen, who played basketball for the green and gold.

Blicavs spent the next four seasons with Dandenong before the club rebranded to Southside ahead of the 2019-20 season.

That first season with the Flyers proved to be one of Blicavs' best, winning a second WNBL Championship and being named to the All-WNBL Second Team.

This strong season was rewarded with selection on the Australian Olympic Team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, where she helped the Opals reach the quarter finals.

At the end of the 2022-23 season, Blicavs joined crosstown rivals, the Melbourne Boomers, for one season before taking time away from the sport due to her back.

"Before going ahead with the back surgery, I was contemplating retiring," the 32-year-old said.

"I'm very grateful that I actually went ahead with that and very fortunate that I'm able to be back on court at such a high intensity.

"I have this newfound love and passion for basketball again, which is really cool."

After her long road to recovery, Blicavs ended more than 12 months away from the sport by helping the Opals win their first ever Asia Cup gold medal in July this year in China.

This was the third time Blicavs had competed at the Asia Cup, with the Opals claiming silver (2017) and bronze (2019) previously.

Following her time in the green and gold, Blicavs headed to the Nation's Capital to join Canberra, who she had helped into fourth spot heading into Round 9.

"[Looking back] the Championships were amazing. I've managed to always insert myself into great teams and been lucky to play in plenty of Grand Final series'," she said.

"I look back at certain teams that I've been on and the camaraderie we had and the lifelong friends that I've made from basketball itself, is something I'll be forever grateful for.

"There's been highs and lows, wins and the losses but sharing those seasons with a bunch of awesome humans are definitely some of my best memories.

"Hopefully I can add to that and win a Championship with the Caps this year."

On the Capitals, Blicavs, who has career averages of 11.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 steals, and her side will host the Southside Melbourne Flyers at AIS Arena, which looms as a crucial game for both outfits.

"It's going to be a very tough game," she said.

"They're jam packed and loaded with stars.

"For us, it's just going to be about defence and making sure we're following the scout well.

"We're getting better every game we play, especially as this will be just our third game of having the whole team there together.

"We're definitely onwards and upwards and finding our chemistry out on court."

Tickets to Friday's Round 9 match, which will be broadcast on ESPN and 9Now, are still available here.