Basketball in the blood for Brancatisano family

Written by Julia Montesano

Every basketball player around the country and in fact the world would probably say they wouldn’t be where they are now without the support of their parents.

From driving their children to various training sessions and games to funding registration fees, uniforms and more, parents are the heartbeat of the basketball community.

Those words couldn’t be truer for the Brancatisano family, with Melbourne Tigers sisterly trio Isa, Maddy and Charlotte taking every step of their journey alongside their Mum and team manager extraordinaire, Emma.

Ahead of the NBL1’s Play4BCNA Round this weekend in conjunction with Mother’s Day, it provided a chance for Isa, Maddy and Charlotte to recognise their Mum’s amazing contribution to their sporting journeys.

“We literally wouldn’t be playing basketball without her,” Charlotte says.

“There were some Friday nights where one of us was in Macedon and the other was in Bendigo and somehow, we got to both games and Mum was there at both games.

“She definitely sacrificed a lot to not only drive us to games but for me, I was lucky enough that she was my team manager for every junior team I played in, so I always had a ride to games.

“It wasn’t just the basketball side of things that Mum was super important for, she obviously taught us lessons on car trips that we use in basketball but also in everyday life growing up and still use today.”

Maddy echoed similar sentiments.

“We wouldn’t be here without her,” she says about her Mum.

“She’s been super important to our journey.

“She’s given us life lessons about basketball, football, everything.

“She’s our coach as well.”

Isa, Maddy and Charlotte all had similar basketball journeys, beginning their tenure with the Melbourne Tigers’ ‘Tiny Tigers’ program, then heading to Eltham and Geelong.

Along the way, Charlotte played in Bendigo, Isa played for former WNBL team, West Coast Waves (now known as the Perth Lynx) and their other sister Lily joined in on the fun too.

But no matter where all four of the girls were playing, Emma was there, either as a team manager, board member, committee member or simply a supportive Mum.

To this day, she is currently the Melbourne Tigers’ NBL1 Women’s Team Manager, on the Tigers General Committee and on their board as well.

On top of all this, she is also an Intervention Aide and tutor at a primary school.

Having been involved in her children’s basketball journey for over a decade, nobody would begrudge Emma for wanting to take a step back from hoops.

But in typical mother fashion, she says she wants to continue her involvement in the sport until her girls call it a day, whenever that may be.

“I just wanted to be there for all of them to enjoy as well as achieve any goals that they had,” she says.

“I didn’t want to miss what they were doing.

“Sport is something that they love, even if they’re not playing.

“You miss a lot of family things, but I don’t regret a second because there were conversations in the car that we would never have if we weren’t together.

“We’ve met so many amazing people and seen so many fantastic places.

“We’ve got so many stories from road trips with people.”

Looking back, Emma has only positive things to say about her involvement in her daughters’ passion.

But she does admit there were challenges along the way.

“We used to have a map every Friday night of who went where,” she says with a laugh.

“We had a spreadsheet of who would go where.

“Thankfully, my husband Vin and I had a lot of support from a lot of awesome people.

“You would never hesitate to send your children with them for a game.

“You knew that they were well looked after.”

Not only do the Brancatisano family balance a busy basketball schedule, but Maddy and older sister Lily are also playing Australian Rules football.

Maddy is carrying the Tiger name into her basketball career, after just finishing her second season with Richmond in the AFLW.

She also spent her debut year with the Melbourne Demons.

On the other hand, Lily is up in Coolangatta playing for the Blues in the QAFLW.

Their dad Vin’s contribution to their basketball journeys also can’t be skipped over, as he played coaching and assistant coaching roles throughout their junior careers and of course, got behind the wheel in the sometimes hours-long road trips to stadiums across Victoria.

After going on different paths throughout the years, Isa says it’s great to be back at Melbourne playing with Maddy and Charlotte, as well as having the continual support of her parents on the sidelines.

“We’ve got a really good bunch of girls at the Tigers and it’s so fun playing with these two knuckleheads again,” she laughs, pointing to Maddy and Charlotte.

“Everyone gets along and we’re seriously just having a great time.

“It’s great being back with Herbie (Head Coach David Herbert) too.

“He brings the best out of his players and creates a great environment as well.

“We’re really happy to be back here.”