Basketball has always been part of Tia Freeman’s life, but it was not always the sport she imagined would take her furthest.
Growing up, field hockey was her main sport.
“I was pretty good at hockey, I did a lot of regional tournaments and things like that and got a scholarship to go to a big school in Surrey to play the sport, but it was the same year I’d got my first call-up for England and I was told if I took the scholarship I had to give up basketball but the thought of giving that up was too good to turn down and I stuck with basketball.”
It was a decision that would shape the years that followed, taking Freeman from local basketball to the professional game, through university, two Master’s degrees and now back into full-time basketball with Caledonia Gladiators.
Her journey began much closer to home, with an older brother who had already found the sport.
“Tor started playing before I did, I was more into field hockey at the time and that was my main sport, but I’d go along and watch his games when he was in secondary school and I just ended up liking it and wanting to join in.
“At that age boys and girls still played together so we played on the same local league team growing up for maybe two or three years. I was the only girl but it was a lot of fun to compete with the guys and especially Tor.
“It was hard being the only girl on the team but everybody supported me so much. I was very small and I just shot the ball a lot. Eventually I joined Worthing Thunder who had an all-girls team so to be able to go there from a mixed team gave me a lot of confidence.
“I still scrimmage with men’s players in the summer now and I’m still almost always the only woman, but I love the challenge, it makes me feel better when I come into a season knowing I can handle that physicality.”
Her progression through the game was rapid. Freeman joined Oaklands as an academy player and, at just 16, was given the opportunity to play in what was then the WBBL during the franchise’s first season.
“Getting to do that at that age was massive and opened my eyes to the level and standard of the professional game in this country.
“Those experiences playing against Cat and Ta’Yani Clark were really important ones, though, and also Chantelle Handy who I think I played against when she was at Northumbria for a few games. I must’ve still been 17 at the time and she was a different level. She must have had over 30 points and she was so skilled, scored when she wanted from wherever she wanted, I couldn’t stop her but it was so inspiring.”
After Oaklands, Freeman moved to Nottingham to play and study, and began to recognise that basketball could become more than a passion.
At Essex, she continued to build both sides of her future. She completed two Master’s degrees, first in economics and later in human resources. After her time there, she took a job back home that would allow her to put her studies into practice, while continuing to play for Anglia Ruskin University.
It was there that her relationship with basketball took on another dimension: for the first time, her brother was also her coach.
As one of the team’s captains, Freeman made a conscious effort to maintain a clear connection between her role as a player and her relationship with Tor. She wanted her teammates to feel they could still come to her, with any concerns then addressed with the coach in the right way.
“I was one of the captains too so really made an effort to make sure the girls knew they could still bring anything they wanted to me and we’d address it with Tor however we felt best, but honestly from start to finish it was great.
“Tor and I both love basketball, we watch everything from SLB and NBL and talk about it constantly. We managed to win the play-offs as thirds seed and peak at the right time with a really good group of people, so it was definitely one of my favourite years in basketball.
“He’s a very caring older brother and always has my best interests at heart. He’s always wanted me to play at the highest level and even if he’d stayed at ARU this year he’d have been telling me I need to go back to SLB.
“The first thing he said when I told him Caledonia were interested was that he wanted to put a training plan in place to make sure I was as ready as I could be. I couldn’t ask for any more from him.”
Now, with Tor taking charge of Essex Rebels, the pair find themselves on opposite sides of the league. Tia is delighted to see her brother take on the opportunity, particularly at a programme she knows well from her own time there.
“I’m so happy for him to have his own opportunity at Essex now. Having played there myself, I know it’s a great programme with great people and facilities, so for him to get to step up to that opportunity and be the leader of such a big team, I’m so excited for him and hope he has a fantastic season. Not as good as ours, of course, but I still hope they do well!”
Their first meeting as opposing head coaches and players is not entirely new territory. Tor once coached against Tia while at Oaklands, and she remembers that game fondly too.
“Tor was head coach against me once when he was at Oaklands and I was at Essex and Lee [Ryan] wasn’t available. We won that game, too.”
This time, however, the build-up has required a little more discipline. The siblings usually speak several times a week, discussing everything from basketball to life beyond it. Ahead of their latest meeting, both Caledonia and Essex’s first competitive games of the season, they agreed to keep their distance until game day, ensuring neither crossed paths with the other’s preparation.
“It’s been interesting this week because we talk so much, probably call a few times a week and talk about everything, but last week we agreed we wouldn’t talk this week leading up to the game so we don’t cross paths and don’t break out focus. I’ll see him on Sunday and give him a hug then and we can talk after the game.”
For all the familiarity, this season represents a significant new chapter for Freeman. Having stepped away from a job she enjoyed to return to full-time basketball, she wanted to be certain that the opportunity was right.
“Everybody knows how professional Caledonia are, how seriously they approach the women’s game and invest in their players. If I was going to leave a job I really enjoyed and come to play basketball full-time again it had to be the right fit for me and this very much feels like that.
“It will be an adjustment for me, of course, as I was playing big minutes last year and always had the ball in my hands being expected to score, whereas here I have a different role but I’ve been loving it so far.
“I love the style of play, other teams always have a hard time with Caledonia, and hopefully we come out with some trophies at the end of the year. Everybody shares the ball, everybody is taking shots, it works so well and we have a really high level of competition.
“I just want to be the best teammate and player I can be and hopefully that leads to us winning three titles by the end of the year.”
From the young girl who followed her brother to the basketball court, to the teenager who chose the game over a hockey scholarship, Freeman has made a series of decisions that have brought her back to the sport she loved.
Now, with a new challenge at Caledonia and her brother leading a team elsewhere in the league, basketball remains something they share. But this is Tia’s journey, and she is ready to make the most of the next chapter.