A young Carla Boyd decided that when she left the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) she needed to go where she would be challenged the most. She chose Adelaide and their coach Jan Stirling. Carla recalls, “I guess the big turning point for me for making an impact on my role with the Australian Team was my decision to come to Adelaide after the AIS. I knew that Jan Stirling was an amazing,or scary depending on whom you speak to, fitness coach. So I decided that I would refuse all the offers I had around the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) for some serious money for an eighteen year old and to go to Adelaide. I still remember the first sand-hill training session we had and Jan matched me with Rachael Sporn for the time trial. Let’s just say my dinner from the night before came up after the second lap and it was then I actually questioned my decision to come to Adelaide to be trained by Jan! But I realised that I was lacking in fitness and the itensity to push through the wall when things got hard and Jan was able to give me help with all that. This was the turning point for me in terms of my future on the Australian Women’s Team.”
Carla Maree Boyd was born in Wynyard, Tasmania on 31st October 1975 to Bernice and William Boyd,
Carla’s sisters Rachel and Terri-Lee played quite a lot of different sports so it was only natural that she wanted to play sport when she was old enough. “My height was an advantage from an early age but my co-ordination needed work so a few dance lessons later that was taken care of,”says Carla.
In netball and basketball Carla dominated at both junior and senior levels. Weekends were spent playing both games as well as Tuesday night playing senior inter-town basketball (NWBU) for Wynyard Wildcats. Most other days after school were training sessions or school competitions and a little bit of volleyball thrown in to help out her sister’s team.
Between the ages of thirteen and fourteen both her netball and basketball coaches insisted on her making a choice between the two sports. Basketball won out. Over the next few years there was a lot of training and awards. The junior team she played with in Wynyard were exceedingly strong. All the girls were champions with one player in particular, Jodi Allen, going onto play with Tassie Islanders in the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) as did her sister Melissa.The Allen family was a big influence in Carla’s life when growing up as Cherie Allen (now Hawkins) was and still is her best friend and numerous days were spent in their backyard playing basketball.
Selection followed for Carla in the State Junior Teams and she played for Tasmania at the National Championships.Coach Connie Vanderfeen was a big influence in Carla’s Tasmanian State career in the early days of Under 14 and Under 16’s. Other coaches and players of influence in her early Basketball career were Lynn Allen, Gill Davis (now Lee), Sally Dick and Willie Joseph.
The AIS coaches noticed Carla in the U14 Australian Championships and she was asked if she was interested in a scholarship at the AIS. At this stage it was her goal to go to the AIS and eventually play for Australia at the Olympic Games. The AIS gave her the application form and she filled it out but was rejected that year (she would have only been fourteen). She was re-assured by the AIS coaches that they would look at her the next year and encouraged her to re-apply, andmade suggestions on what skills she had to work on.
Carla says that she nearly didn’t re-apply the next year for the AIS and she left it until the last minute to do so. On the day of her 15th birthday Coach Phil Brown from the AIS rang with the news that she had been accepted on scholarship for one year. She stayed for three years 1991, 1992, 1993. During those three years she played with the AIS in the WNBL.
Carla first represented Australia when she was chosen to play for the Australian Junior team in the 1992 William Jones Cup in Taiwan. At the end of that year she travelled with the Junior Team to Europe where they played twelve games.
In 1993 she played further games for the Australian Youth Team against the Japanese B team, Athletes in Action, the Ukraine senior team and in the Malaysian Cup.
The third year at the AIS (1993) was difficult and challenging for Carla. She was studying Year Twelve at school, was selected on the Australian Team for the YouthWorld Championships held in Seoul, Korea, and on the Australian Women’s Team.
She debuted for the Australian Teamwhen she played against the touring Ukraine National Team. At that stage at seventeen years and four months of age she was the youngest player ever to be selected to play with the Australian Women’s Team.
The Australian Women’s Youth team (Gems) became the first Australian Basketball team (men or women) to win a FIBA international medal when they won the Gold Medal at the 1993 Youth World Championships held in Korea.
Carla had a number of Clubs interested in her to play with them in the WNBL when she left the AIS. She decided to join the Adelaide Lightning Club. Jan Stirling (future Australian Coach) was the Adelaide Coach. She was tough but had Carla’s respect. “Jan taught me to be tougher and stronger and got my fitness levels to the highest they could be. I feel that this fitness (of the whole team) is the main reason why Adelaide Lightning was the dominant WNBL team of the 1990’s when it won WNBL Championships in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1998,” says Carla with emphasis.
In her WNBL career Carla was to play 181 WNBL games. She played at the AIS (1991-93) and for the Adelaide Lightning (1994-98 and the 2000/01season). She was named to the WNBL All Star Team in 1998.
In 1994 Carla played for the Australian Women’s Team (now called the Opals) against the touring Chinese National Team.In 1995 she played for the Opals against the Korean National Team, against China in the Goldmark Cup, and toured Europe for six games.
Carla was selected to theOpals team to play in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. She had achieved her aim set a number of years ago when she was at the AIS and when she moved to Adelaide.
After playing in the Skill World Challenge (Australia) and two Pre-Olympic Tournaments (Canada and the USA) the Opals played in the Atlanta Olympic Games. The team played exceptionally well, endured some heart-stopping games and went on to win Australia’s first ever Olympic Basketball medal when they won Bronze. This achievement was a “groundbreaker” for the Opals and set the standard for future Opals teams for the next twenty years.
Carla’s International career went ahead in leaps and bounds in the next two years. In 1997 she played for the Opals in the series against Russia (in Australia), in the Oceania World Qualification Tournament, the USQ Invitational Series in the USA and in the V1 Golden Cup Invitational in Brazil.
In 1998 Carla played for the Opals against Brazil, in the Japan Women’s Basketball Festival, the Grand Prix of Slovakia and a tournament in Portugal which led into the 1998 World Championships which were held in Germany.
The Opals won the Bronze Medal in Germany and re-confirmed their status amongst the best in the world. Carla was the top scorer for the Opals in the World Championships. She finished the 1998 year for the Opals with the four match Maher Cup Series against China.She was named the 1998 Basketball Australia Women’s International Player of the Year.
In 1998 Carla was recruited to the US Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) by the Detroit Shock. “It was sheer luck. I was seen by the Detroit Shock coaching staff on video footage of my WNBL and Australian Opals teammate Rachael Sporn. The Shock staff saw me on the video and decided they had to have number twelve, who was me,” recalls Carla.
Carla then playedwith Detroit Shock in the WNBA in 1998, in 1998/99 with Wuppertal (Germany), in with the 1999 Detroit Shock, in 1999/00 with the Adelaide Lightning, in 2001 with the Detroit Shock, in 2001/02 with Tarbes (France), in 2003 with Townsville in the WNBL (three games), and in 2003/04-2004/05 with Tarbes.
Carla’s sights in the period from 1998-2000were firmly set on selection for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.In 1999 she played for the Opals against Cuba (Maher Cup) and Brazil (Goldmark Cup), in the US Olympic Cup and the USA Invitational. In 2000 she played for the Opals against Russia (Maher Cup), in the Olympic Test Event, against Canada (Goldmark Cup), on a tour to France and Poland, against New Zealand in Australia, in the C7 Sport International Challenge, against the USA in Melbourne and against Brazil in Wollongong.
It was a tremendous build-up for Carla and the Opals. Now they were ready for the Sydney Olympics themselves.
The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games was the tournament where the Opals believed they could win their first ever Gold Medal in a FIBA International Competition. By this stage Carla was a lynchpin in Coach Tom Maher’s plans as she was a permanent starter on the team, was a consistent scorer, strong rebounder and by now was considered one of the strongest defenders on the team. Carla was often given the task of defending one of the super-stars of the opposition and she did this with great success while maintain high standards in other aspects of her game.
The Opals did not win the Gold Medal in Sydney 2000 but they won the first ever Silver Medal in basketball at a Women’s World or Olympic Championship.
Carla’s international basketball career was far from over as she toured with the Opals to France in 2001 and that same year played for the Opals in the Oceania 2002 World Championships Qualification Tournament.
In 2002 she played for the Opals at the 2002 World Championships where the Opals won a Bronze Medal.
In 2003 Carla played with the Opals in games in Greece, Belgium and France. This European tour was the last time that she was to play for the Opals.
In 2006 after her stints with Tarbes in France Carla retired from basketball because of major injury to her knees.
Carla sums up. “There are so many people that influence your life when growing up but for me it was my parent’s ongoing support and belief in me that allowed me to follow my dreams and succeed. Also all those coaches that put their time into teaching meall they could about basketball. They know who they are and they touched my life forever.”
Carla Boyd played over 200 games for Australia. She won a Gold Medal at the World Youth Championships, Bronze Medals at two World Championships, and Bronze and Silver Medals at the Olympic Games. She was named the 1998 Basketball Australia International Player of the Year. She played on Championship winning teams in the WNBL, played in the toughest Club competition in the world.....the WNBA... and played in the European Leagues. She had done it all.
It was all done with distinction and excellence.