Holly Winterburn looks ahead to Women’s EuroBasket debut
At 22 years old, there’s not much Holly Winterburn can’t already claim to have accomplished in her young career, but tomorrow she gets to add another huge milestone to her CV as she’ll make her debut at Women’s EuroBasket 2023 for Great Britain.
Having swept up every team accolade possible in the Women’s British Basketball League, as well as numerous individual awards including some starring moments on the continent with the London Lions in the EuroCup in recent years, Winterburn has had an outstanding few years as a professional and she’s excited for her next challenge tomorrow at EuroBasket.
“It’s huge for me to be here.” Winterburn said.
“This is my first EuroBasket and I haven’t played for GB for that long, so it’s all come quite quickly, but at the same time I’ve been given a lot of responsibility in this team, so I’ve got to take that opportunity and I’m excited.
“You can ever take for granted playing for your senior national team. This is such a talented group and really hard to make the roster [for EuroBasket], but it was always one of my goals.
“I knew that if I worked hard enough then I’d get here so I’m just enjoying the moment and just trying to help the team be as good as it can be.”
Having come through the pathway with GB, the 22-year-old guard was reflective in discussing the significance of reaching Slovenia with the National Team, highlighting how important her experiences as a junior were and how much she as a young player has adjusted to playing a leadership role as one of the team’s primary ball-handlers.
“Definitely in these moments I think back to those summers as a junior. Playing European Championships when I was younger was the highlight of the summer for me and my teammates – just a really fun and exciting experience.
“I’m here now but my age group is still quite young, so it’s a good mix of feeling like you should be here and that you’ve earnt it and everything and being a bit starstruck when you go to get breakfast too, seeing some players you’ve looked up to for years growing up.
“I’ve been given a lot of responsibility trying to help lead the team, and it has been challenging for me but at the same time I wouldn’t have been given this role if I wasn’t ready.
“I’ve got great leaders around me and have played with great leaders before like Azania (Stewart), Jo (Leedham-Warner) and Temi (Fagbenle), but having this role is definitely something I’ve had to adjust to but I’ve just got to take these opportunities in my stride.”
A new-look roster has been assembled for this competition, with Temi Fagbenle the last remaining participant from GB’s incredible fourth-placed finish at EuroBasket 2019, and Harriet Ottewill-Soulsby and Erin McGarrachan the only two other players with EuroBasket experience in the 12-player group.
There is a great balance of emerging talent and established stars in Coach Buceta’s team, and Winterburn discusses how much she has enjoyed the challenge of helping to bring a new group together in a short timeframe, as well as the opportunity the group has to kick their EuroBasket campaign off in the right way against Slovenia on Thursday evening.
“We’re just taking it day-by-day right now, trying to figure our own team out and our focus is 100% on us. We know Slovenia are going to present a difficult challenge for us in what is essentially a home game for them, but that atmosphere is going to give us energy as well.
“There are a lot of new players in the team and we know it’s not all going to be perfect after just two or three weeks, but we’ve put in a lot of work to get this far and as long as we go possession by possession giving it our best, we could be in a really good spot.
“The potential of this group is really exciting. We have so much talent in the team and know what we’re capable of, but tomorrow is the time to step on the court and show that to everybody. We’re really excited and can’t wait to get on the floor.”
You can watch Great Britain take on Slovenia in their Women’s EuroBasket opener live and exclusively in the UK on GB Basketball TV. Tip-off is at 5pm BST and you can follow the rest of GB’s journey in the competition by subscribing to the channel here.