Originally published by Warragul Drouin Gazette September 16, 2026
Warragul basketballer Sophie Taylor will be taking on the world from today as she represents Australia at the FIBA 3×3 U23 World Cup in China.
Sophie, 19, was a late call-up to the team, replacing another player and getting the chance to pull on the green and gold for the first time since 2023 in what will be Australia’s first time at the event.
She has represented Australia on multiple occasions during her junior career but has been forced to deal with numerous bone stress injuries in the past few years, limiting her time on the court.
“It was actually funny, I just got a text out of the blue from the coach who said ‘are you interested in coming and playing in China for us?’,” she said.
“I was very shocked but I think I was also super excited because getting the chance to represent Australia is out of this world.”
Given her recent injury troubles, the opportunity to represent her country – outside of just Asia/Oceania for the first time – isn’t lost on her.
“Being able to put the green and gold back on is something I never take for granted. It’s really cool.”
There’s just one catch – Sophie’s never played 3×3 basketball.
“That’s why I was shocked. Obviously I’ve watched a bit of it and in training we do three on three but it’s nothing like an actual game. So I had to learn the rules on the fly,” she said.
Teams in 3×3 have just three players instead of five as the name implies, with other different rules including a smaller shot clock and games only using a half-court.
Adding to the challenge is the fact that Sophie will be the youngest on her team by some margin.
Despite that, she’s ready to give it her best shot.
“At the end of the day it’s still basketball. But I think just how fast it is, you can get the ball out of the ring and just go. It looks a bit more fast paced and a bit more physical as well, I think that’ll be the biggest adjustment.
“I’m excited because obviously it’s something different for me that I haven’t really done before but I just want to go in and soak everything up, learn from the girls and get to know them.”
Australia will kick off its campaign tomorrow against Japan and Kenya, before facing Slovenia and finally the United States.