Jada Crawshaw is a 19-year-old Gurindji and Yamatji woman who has chased her basketball dream all the way to the United States.

A descendant of the Stolen Generation, Jada grew up in a single-mother household on Larrakia Country (Darwin).

When she was 11 years old, she joined a local basketball team. Her athletic ability stood out right away and, despite not knowing the rules of the game, she was selected to play in the Northern Territory Under 12 team in the Schools Sports Australia Championships.

Later, Jada received a secondary school scholarship and moved to Sydney, where she joined another local team. There, she was spotted by the NSW Sydney Metro under 16’s coach, who fast tracked her into the state team to play in the Australian Basketball Championships.

On her school holidays, she returned to Darwin and honed her skills with Hoops 4 Health—an Aboriginal organisation that uses basketball and trauma-informed practices to promote wellbeing. She undertook personal training and conditioning with owner Timmy Duggan, who mentored her and inspired her to work hard and aim high. She represented NSW for two more years but, in 2022, she was not selected.

Here, Jada came to understand that she would have to work even harder to reach her dreams

She made a serious commitment to work hard and dedicate herself to reaching her goals. That very same year, she was selected to play in two competitions in the United States and the Australian All Schools Championship.

Jada topped off 2022 by being contracted as a Sydney Flames development player in Australia’s National Basketball League, well and truly showing that she is both capable of great things and has the grit to make them happen. By the time she finished high school, around 20 colleges in the United States had expressed interest in recruiting her to play for their team.

Jada worked harder than ever in 2023, with gruelling training with the Sydney Flames for five hours per day. That year, she was also on the winning team in the under 20’s Australian Basketball Championships, contracted to the semi-professional East Sydney Comets, and named the NBL1 East Youth Player of the Year.

However, she was dealt a blow when she was knocked back for a student athlete scholarship in the United States. Despite having been a high academic achiever in Years 11 and 12, she was found ineligible due to her Year 10 grades.

Not willing to turn away from her dream, Jada repeated Year 10 English. Once again, her hard work paid off and she secured a four-year student athlete basketball scholarship to Long Beach California State University, USA.

Jada has taken the leap to chase her dream to the United States, far from her country, family, and culture

She is only the fourth young Aboriginal woman to receive a US college basketball scholarship in its 106-year history. And she has already excelled, recently being named in the All-Big West All-Freshman Team at the 2023–24 Big West Conference Awards.

Her journey so far has been made possible through the support of her family, her Sydney-based adopted family, and her coaches, who have all believed in her and supported her the whole way.

She is especially grateful for Hoops 4 Health and for her ongoing mentorship under Timmy Duggan, who supports her to this day. These experiences also showed Jada the importance of a trauma-informed approach to health and wellbeing, which she hopes to champion through her studies in psychology.

When Jada returns to Australia in the end-of-year college break, she plans to mentor Indigenous youth as a coach at Hoops 4 Health. She wants to give back to her community and inspire kids like her to believe in themselves, work hard, and dream big.

Our ask to support Jada's dream

Jada trains for long, hard hours, and studies even harder to meet the Grade Point Average requirements of her scholarship. But one of the biggest challenges she faces is financial.

Jada’s scholarship covers expenses including tuition fees, food, and accommodation, but it does not cover her other living expenses. It also does not provide for her to travel between Australia and the United States, so Jada is responsible for securing her flights home during college breaks.

The terms of Jada’s visa prohibit her from undertaking paid work or earning income from her name, image, or likeness (NIL) in the United States.

It is for this reason that we appeal to the generosity and goodwill of family, friends and philanthropic organisations to ensure that Jada has every chance of reaching her dreams.

We hope to raise money for Jada’s professional skills development, living expenses, such as having her own room, mobile phone plan, lease of car space, transport, and flights (including travel insurance) between Australia and the United States on her breaks.

We would also love to help Jada update her laptop, which she has been taking good care of for the past seven years.

We are incredibly proud of Jada’s resilience under the immense pressure of this opportunity and, with no friends or family in the States, we know it will mean the world to her to be able to get home and connect with her family and community when the college closes for breaks and she has nowhere to go.

Beating the odds

Jada’s biggest dream is to play for her country in international events such as the World Cup and the Olympics. To our knowledge, only five Aboriginal women have ever represented Australia in basketball, and only three have played in the Olympics.

Equally, Jada is focused on getting a university degree that will set her up for a meaningful career throughout her life.

Indigenous young people face unique challenges rooted in a history marked by discrimination, dispossession, and social inequality. Statistics reveal ongoing significant disparities in health outcomes compared to the broader population.

In education, alarming disparities persist, with lower retention rates and educational achievements among Indigenous students. While Australia boasts a rich sporting culture, Indigenous participation is too often hindered by systemic barriers.

Supporting young Indigenous athletes and students is one way we can break those cycles of disadvantage and nurture the potential of a new generation.



Jada is proud to be a role model for Indigenous youth and passionate about paying it forward and supporting more young players to succeed.

Read Jada's letter of support from Peter Lonergan, Director of High-Performance Coach Development at Basketball Australia

Follow Jada on instagram