Falling in love with Mount Gambier

By Lachlan Everett for NBL1.com.au

Canadian import Cassandra Brown is running it back with the Mount Gambier Pioneers for a second season. 

She could not be more excited to rebuild after last season’s haunting loss, falling by two points to the Waverley Falcons in the Semi-Finals at home in the Ice House.

“Yeah, [it was] very emotional in the locker room. Very disappointing, heartbreaking,” she said. 

“We took it pretty hard, I took it pretty hard. I mean, we had such an amazing run last season that we only hope to make it all the way to the championship and finish as strong as we started.

“Unfortunately, that's basketball, you win some you lose some. It was very heartbreaking to go out like that and at the last second, it was a tough pill to swallow for sure.”

Brown had 22 points and 8 rebounds in the loss, but says the outcome made her as hungry as ever to try and repeat the early success they had. The Pioneers were 9-1 at the end of Round 7 as the clear favourites in the NBL1 South at that stage, but next season Brown plans to make it all the way to the championship. 

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“I think either way,  I would have wanted to run it back win or lose, but that definitely played a part in my decision,” she said.

“We didn't fulfil our own expectations of how well we could have done this year and didn't reach our potential. So I think that was very motivating when I was thinking about coming back.” 

Brown has played all over the world, representing Canada in national team games and playing in Italy, Sweden, Greece, Luxembourg and Australia to name a few. 

When she found out she was playing in Australia she expected to be near the beach with the hot sun. She was surprised when she landed in Mount Gambier but she fell in love with the small town anyway. 

“Okay, this is small, this might be a little bit rough and boring,” she said. 

“But, I think I was a little bit naive coming to it, because I'm an import from North America, thinking I'm going to Australia and I'm going to be like playing on a sunny beach somewhere and being in a bathing suit. That was quite not the case.

“I think there's something very special and charming about playing for small towns because the community is so involved. And I think that made it very special for me and the team.” 

Brown said that her bonds with the team were created on the road, travelling five to six hours most weeks to play teams in Victoria. 

“Yeah, it's funny, I was talking with one of my family members the other day, and they were saying like, how painful the travel must have been since we were on the outskirts with five or six-hour road trips,” she said. 

“I was like, it’s actually pretty awesome. We had some super fun trips, we had such great chemistry and we got along so well and just developed such great friendships off the court. 

“We would just talk about the randomest topics,  if you had a microphone and you would listen into our van talks, you would be like, ‘what are they even talking about?’ It was kind of nice having that extra bonding time off the court together. And you don't get that if you're in the city and you don't have to travel as far.” 

Brown took to Instagram to say how much her first season in Australia meant to her, posting “Thank you mount gambier and to all the people that made this season such a special one. Came in as a team, but leaving as family.” 

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She explained that there were a lot of tears and emotions leaving Mount Gambier,  but it made her want to come back for 2023 to try to win a championship for her new family down under. 

Feature image via: Ian Knight Photography