Tessa Morrison. Photo supplied.Mid Canterbury’s Tessa Morrison is never too far from a basketball court. The 21-year-old, who has six seasons with the Canterbury Wildcats under her belt, talks to reporter Erin Tasker about her life and sports.

What was your basketball highlight of 2018?

My highlight was coming back to New Zealand and being able to play in several different teams with all my friends.

What did your basketball year look like?

In the early part of 2018 I finished my second year playing college basketball for New Hampshire in the USA. We were able to finish higher than the previous year which is always a great achievement. We made playoffs but lost in the quarter-final.

I then came home and joined the Canterbury Wildcats for my sixth season, where we did not do as well as previous years and placed fifth. I also captained the Canterbury under 23 team who went to nationals in Porirua in August and we placed second.

Weekly, I played for the Wolverines women’s premier team in Christchurch. This was a new experience for me as I had been playing for Lincoln University in this grade since I was 14. The Wolverines exceeded everybody’s expectations and managed to obtain third equal in the competition.

Just recently I played in the Ashburton women’s grade league with some of my good school friends and also with women I had never met. However we had a ball and ended up winning the competition.

What do you do off the court work/study-wise?

In the States for the past two years I have been studying forensic psychology, however I am going to finish my degree in New Zealand at the University of Canterbury in 2019. Instead I will be majoring in psychology and will then have the opportunity to do post-grad criminal psych.

In 2016 you headed off to the US on a basketball scholarship. What was the whole American basketball scene like?

America was everything you see on the movies! Big crowds, lots of early mornings and late night trainings, mentally and physically draining, completing assignments on long bus trips, playing two games a week.

But I was also lucky enough to have my teammates to go through all of this with.

And off court, what did you think of the American way of life and the whole American university experience?

I was lucky enough to be at a smaller university where our classrooms had 30 students or less, so it was easy to meet people but also create connections with the professors. American way of life is a lot different than it is here, especially in New Hampshire where there is snow on the ground for basically the whole winter and the temperatures are usually below zero degrees.

How did you find forensic psychology and academic life?

I loved my course! Forensic psych is definitely the field I can see myself in, in the future. In America they have much higher crime rates and more serious crimes than in New Zealand so being able to study some of the bigger crimes in the USA was extremely interesting!

Also having professors with contacts. One of my professors had a friend who worked while the Irish mob ran Boston and he happened to now be friends withone of the biggest gangsters during that time period, so our class had a two-hour question and answer session with him.

You came home a little earlier than expected – why was that?

As much as I enjoyed the States, two years was enough for me as I decided that there was no place like home and I could get a very similar level of basketball playing back home.

How long have you been involved with the Canterbury Wildcats?

I first started playing for the Wildcats when I was 15, so I just finished my sixth season with them!

If you got the opportunity to play basketball full time, paid, would you do it?

YES! That is my ultimate dream, play professional women’s basketball. However in New Zealand it is extremely difficult. I would have to live overseas to be able to do so, but I would not mind that at all.

What is your basketball dream right now?

My dream at this stage is to keep enjoying basketball, I have played at a reasonably high level for many years and I still love the game and don’t want to lose sight of why I play, which is because I love it and love the friendships it creates along the way.

What’s your sporting goal for 2019?

My 2019 goal is to help the Canterbury Wildcats to another national championship, and also to lead and be a role model for the younger girls coming through playing women’s basketball.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

If not overseas somewhere, still playing for the Wildcats, hopefully involved in more coaching of the sport.

What position do you play in basketball, and how tall are you?

I play a shooting guard and am 5 foot 7.

By Erin Tasker © The Ashburton Guardian - 17 January 2019