The Australian Women’s Basketball Team arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1980 at the height of the Communist regime. Pat Mickan recalls that,“We felt as alien and as menaced as any in country we had visited. Our bags arrived at the hotel on a separate bus to the one we used.....and the zips on our bags were in different places when they were delivered to our rooms.”
“Early on the second day, we became aware of a thin, middle-aged man following us wherever we went. A group of players would go for a walk out of the hotel and he would follow. We would stop, he would stop. He was at our team training, at lunch, at dinner, at the games, in the hotel foyer, in the hotel garden. It was a very uncomfortable feeling.”
Patricia Mickan was born March 12th1957 in Renmark, South Australia.
Pat’s early memory of playing basketball was on an outside, asphalt court in Renmark in the Riverland of SA. “It was a hot, 40-degree night. A snake slithered from nearby bushes across the court and sent players spontaneously running in all directions.
The referee picked it up by its tail, and swung the snake around in an attempt to kill it by knocking its head on the asphalt. The snake accidentally slipped from the referees hand and flew towards the cars parked alongside the court. People sitting on the car bonnets scattered feverishly. That’s how basketball was in the country,” says Pat.
Patfinished school at Renmark and started playing serious basketball at eighteen in Adelaide.
She recalls, “This meant rapidly learning a new language, which included concepts as simple as a screen, a low post, a backdoor cut, motion offence, a pick, and so on. The biggest shock was to the body.....training for two hours at full-on intensity!”
Her first South Australian (SA)State representation was as a senior.
She was selected to her first Australian Women’s Basketball Team in 1978 for a tour to Europe and China.“I was a team-mate alongside some of the great players of the time Maree Benny-Jackson, Jenny Cheesman, and Robyn Gull-Maher,” says Pat.
The tour of China was compelling as the Australian Team was one of the first “European” teams to tour there as China had been closed to the outside world for decades. “The local people everywhere were goggle-eyed at these lanky, fair-skinned athletic strangers,” says Pat.
Pat’s career was blossoming and she was selected on the Australian Teamfor the 1979 World Championships in Korea where the team finished an outstanding 4th place.
These championships were followed by her selection for Australia for the 1980 Pre-Olympic Qualification Tournament in Bulgaria. Unfortunately the team failed to qualify for the Olympic Games in Moscow. That elusive Olympic appearance was still out there!
That same year Pat was a member of the Australian Teamthat travelled to Chinese Taipei for seven games and which won the Oceania Championships.
Pat continued her career in the SA Club competition and in the inaugural Australian Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) which commenced in 1981. In her WNBL career Pat played 158 games with West Adelaide and the North Adelaide Rockets.
Pat Mickan was an outstanding basketball player. She was a very strong, and was quite a force around the basket. This was even more outstanding when it is realised that she was only 179 cm in height. She and fellow SA team-mate Julie Nykiel (183cm) made a career out of playing against much taller opponents internationally and domestically. Pat established a reputation as an outstanding defensive player at all levels.
Olympic team-mate Trish Cockrem comments, “Pat Mickan was one of the most knowledgeable people I know...about basketball and everything....I would like her on my team always.”
“Pat Mickan was a great team player with exceptional defensive and rebounding skills. Pat was one of my toughest opponents and I always preferred to play with her rather than against her. She was a very talented all round athlete,” says fellow Olympian Julie Nykiel.
In 1984 Pat as a member of the Australian Team travelled to China for a seven match tour. The team emphasis at this time was to qualify for the 1984 Olympic Games.
Pat was selected on the Australian Women’s Basketball Team to play in the 1984 Olympic Qualification Tournament in Cuba.
Australia played outstandingly in Cuba but failed to qualify for the Olympic Tournament in LA. Pat and the rest of the team returned home devastated. However in a twist of fate Cuba withdrew from the Olympics as part of the Soviet Bloc boycott and the Australians were admitted to the Olympic Games in their place.
Pat describes her feelings as she marched around the Forum in Los Angeles with the Australian athletes.“The whole atmosphere inside the stadium saturated me with a sense of anticipation and excitement, and thrill....I was so uplifted that tears welled in my eyes in an unexpected response”.
In LA Australia played outstandingly. Pat and her undersized team-mates battled hard and troubled all teams. In their final game of the tournament against Yugoslavia their one tall player Sue Geh had a “blinder” and with Pat’s contributing a courageous 15 points the Aussies got a win and secured a 5th place in the Olympics. This was Australia’s first win at Olympic Women’s competition and an outstanding result by our first ever Olympic Women’s Basketball Team.
The inaugural Australia Games early in 1985 was Pat’s next appearance for the National Women’s Team. Australia went on to win the Gold Medal. Pat was also a member of the Australian Team that won the Oceania Championships that year before undertaking a toughtwelve match tour of Europe.
In 1986 Pat was a member of the Australian Team that was determined to keep itshigh world ranking when they played in the World Championships in the Soviet Union. Unfortunately they were unable to repeat the heroics of LA and the team finished in 9th position.
In 1987 Pat played for Australia on an eleven match tour of Europe and a mammoth seventeen match tour of Canada and the USA. The team was doing a lot of travelling but it was toughening them up for what was to come in 1988.
Selection for the 1988 Seoul Olympics was Pat’s main personal goal now. She was selected to the Australian Team to play a game against Japan and in a five match series against Canada. She was named to the Australian Women’s Team to play at the 1988 Olympic Games...if they could qualify!
Pat played for Australia in the Seoul Goodwill Tournament prior to the 1988 Olympic Qualification Tournament that was held in Malaysia. At the Qualification Tournament Australia finished in 6th position and qualified for the Olympic Games in Seoul.
Pat was determined to play a strong role in getting the Australian Team to their first ever Olympic Medal. Pat and the team played outstanding basketball and they handed the Soviet Union their first ever Olympic defeat and made the Semi-Finals for the first time in their history. Unfortunately the Aussies went on to lose to Yugoslavia by one point with less than two seconds to go. They then lost in the Bronze Medal playoff to Russia.
Pat and the team had achieved an outstanding 4th place in the Olympic Games.
The 1988 Seoul Olympics were the last time Pat was to play for Australia.
“To this day I still get goose bumps when thinking about the Olympics...it is just a very rare and precious experience to me.The Olympics and International Basketball are very dear to me as it gave me the opportunity to travel, see the world and to be exposed to other cultures and to have doors open that would never otherwise have been open,” says Pat.
Pat Mickan played over 150 games for her country. She played in three World Championships and two Olympic Games. She was a pioneer in the Australian WNBL. She set examples of courage, drive, demeanour and passion for women’s basketball in Australia.“Pat Mickan was one of the smartest players I have ever seen. Playing the post position with a body much smaller than her opposition didn't seem to be a problem for her. Her natural instincts and reading of the game were outstanding. I also roomed with her a lot in the early days and she was lots of fun and was very unique in her outlook on the world,” recalls Olympic team-mate Bronwyn Marshall.
Pat’s sporting career included representing Australia in Netball as well as coaching netball at the inter-State level.
She was also a trailblazer when she became the Australian Football League’s (AFL) first female skills coach when she took the role with the Adelaide Football Club.
After Pat retired from basketball as a player she established a career in journalism while she continued to coach in basketball and netball. She has been a television and radio commentator on the NBL for the Adelaide 36ers, a journalist and a member of the BA Honours Selection Committee.
Pat Mickan was inducted into the Basketball Australia Hall of Fame in 2013.