Spotlight on Kyiah O’Donohue
As part of our First Nations Round we spoke to up and coming NBL1 West player Kyiah O’Donohue. Kyiah was born in Cairns, Queensland and his indigenous Torres Strait Islander heritage lies with his mums side of the family. Kyiah has been a Hawks since 2018 and spent two seasons playing U18 division 3 and one year in the U20’s team before moving up to Championship Division and NBL1. Kyiah has an impressive list of achievements in basketball having been award the U20’S MVP, a D-League MVP as well as the Indigenous Nationals basketball MVP 2023. He has also played Division 1 Junior College basketball.
“I never touched a basketball until I was in year 10. My whole childhood I was a footy player since I could remember. I only changed to basketball because the coaches in my team were refusing to help me progress further in the sport, so after talking with my parents about it they suggested I switch to basketball and since then basketball has been my passion. I’ve also been living away from my home and family since I was 11 years old, where I was sent to boarding school here in Perth to Hale School. I grew up in small communities around WA as my dad is a pool manager and it was his job to run the community pools. As the communities were small and isolated the education there was very poor with one school i attended only consisting of 60 kids in total from years 7-12. Going to boarding school not only helped me get a better education but also helped me to find my passion for basketball” explained Kyiah.
Being a Hawk is very important to Kyiah, “In my eyes being a hawk means your apart of a massive basketball family. This is evident on game days when you see the younger player teams supporting and cheering us on. There’s also a lot of pride that comes from wearing the Hawks uniform. Hawks have been a very successful club for so long, not only in the NBL1 division but also amongst all the junior teams as well”.
When asked the important of First Nations Round Kyiah believes it is extremely important in showcasing the culture of indigenous people not only with the many great players representing their clubs but also through the artworks displayed in each of the uniforms. Kyiah believes it is important to recognise the small number of indigenous athletes which play NBL1 throughout the whole league. Kyiah says, “I hope it also inspires the younger generation to show that if you put your mind to it you can achieve great things and that can be demonstrated in many aspects of life and not just basketball. It’s also an honor and a privilege to be able to represent my family and my people back in Cairns. I think the Indigenous uniform design is amazing. I feel that the artwork not only represents the skills of Aaron as an indigenous artist but also encompasses the and shows the long standing tradition of the club and the history that has been made by the Perry Lakes Hawks”.
Head Coach Damian Barr has nothing but praise the the young guard. “Kyiah is one of the younger members of what is already a very young Hawks NBL1 squad. A talented junior who can shoot the ball at a high percentage, Kyiah’s challenge this year was to improve the other areas of his game. Defensively, playing off the bounce and adding more tools to support his natural shot and natural athleticism and flair. He’s really become a sponge for learning, listens and adopts new teachings, works hard on the areas of his game he knows he needed to work on, despite those areas not necessarily being the “exciting” parts to work on. He saw the benefits of this mid season against the Suns where not only did he have 20 points on the back of a perfect 5 of 5 from the 3pt line, but undertook an important defensive role on Bryan Michaels, one of the leagues best scorers and did a wonderful job there. The future is exciting for this young man, a definite star on the rise”.
The Hawks will play the East Perth Eagles Saturday Night as part of First Nations Round at Bendat. The Women tip-off at 5pm and the Men at 7pm.
