Crows teammates Jack Madgen and James Borlase are filled with an immense amount of pride when they think about the journey their sisters are about to embark on.
The pair’s sisters, Tess Madgen and Izzy Borlase, are part of the 12-player Australian women’s basketball team and will represent Australia at the Paris Olympics, beginning this month.
Tess - a long-time Opal - will captain the side, while 19-year-old Izzy has been selected for her first Olympic Games.
“I get teary just thinking about it, she’s wanted to do this her whole life,” Jack said, talking about his sister.
“She wrote herself a letter when she was eight years old which said she wanted to play for the Opals, so it’s a childhood dream for her.
“Me, my Mum and Dad and my aunty are going over to watch and I can’t wait.
“I’ve got some Australian jerseys at home ready to go and I’m super proud, I couldn’t be happier for her.”
The 2024 Olympics marks Tess’ second Games appearance, after featuring with the Opals in Tokyo, 2020.
But with Covid at its peak, there was no support crew.
Jack will head over to Paris on Sunday, before returning on August 7, ahead of the Crows’ SANFL clash against West Adelaide on August 11.
“Tokyo Olympics was during Covid, so there were no crowds and as a family we weren’t able to go and watch, so this one is super special,” Jack said.
“She’s super resilient, a seriously hard-worker and got herself right for another Olympics, which is a credit to her.”
Izzy Borlase, meanwhile, will enter the games as the youngest player in the side and after her “fair share” of setbacks.
“She’s had quite a big couple of years,” James said.
“She finished her schooling at the Australian Institute of Sport and from there she made her debut for the Adelaide Lightning, played a year there and then went through a fair few injuries.
“She hurt her back and her shoulder, so she missed a significant period of basketball but she’s been able to make it back and go away with the Opals a bit for a few tournaments.
“I think she’s learnt a lot and I’m super proud of her to see how far she’s come at such a young age.”
James recalls the night Izzy was told she would be going to the Olympics, with the family group chat being “peppered with pictures”.
“They (the Opals) had a couple of games against China in Melbourne and after the last game… she had a Zoom call with the Opals Head Coach (Sandy Brondello) who was over in America, she’s a WNBA coach,” James said.
“She got told then, so she was excited and raced down the street to a bar where Mum, Dad, my grandparents and a few family friends were and she had a few celebratory drinks.
“I was asleep at the time because it was 11.30pm or something here but our family WhatsApp group, which includes me and my older sister Ella, got peppered with pictures.”
Although James won’t be heading to the Games, he plans to watch the Opals’ matches on TV, as long as he’s not playing footy at the same time.
“Sport is something we bond over, she’ll come and watch my games and I’ll go watch her games,” James said.
“The first game I think will work out alright because they start at 11am in France, so that’s like 6.30pm here, so those ones will be alright.
“But when they play and it’s the middle of the night here I still will get up for it. It won’t be tough to get up and watch because it will be so exciting.
‘I’ve seen all the hard work she puts in, so it’s good to see that it’s starting to pay off.”
The Opals will face Nigeria in their opening match of their Group B schedule on Monday, July 29.
