In the first episode of our new series of SportsParenthood, basketball player and coach Christian Jurlina joins us on the show. In the episode, he shares his incredible experience of being a student-athlete at Whitworth University in Washington, USA, where he packed in plenty of game time, created life-long memories, and met his now wife, Faith.
Heading to university in the USA is something many aspiring sports kids dream about. You’ll hear how Christian ended up at Whitworth, including a few hiccups along the way.
After graduating with a degree in Kinesiology, Christian signed his first professional contract in the National Basketball League (NBL) as a development player with the Sydney Kings, followed by a stint with the Cairns Marlins in the Queensland Basketball League (QBL), later signing as a development player with the Cairns Taipans.
In Australia, basketball has more than one million participants, the majority aged between 12-18. Basketball is the second-most popular organised team sport behind football.
Turning his expertise to coaching, Christian has valuable advice on what up-coming players can do to progress in the sport, and how to get noticed when trialing for rep teams, which can be a tricky process.
EPISODE PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, 15 JULY 2021