Keely Froling can't help but laugh when she thinks of the scraped knees and the bloody toes caused by a crazed sibling rivalry.
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The 22-year-old might not be where she is without it as Froling and the Canberra Capitals prepare to meet the Dandenong Rangers at the National Convention Centre on Sunday.
Froling comes from good pedigree - her mother Jenny won four WNBL championships while her father Shane spent the best part of 20 years in the NBL and donned the green and gold of Australia.
Now Froling is beginning to emerge as a star in her own right on home soil - and she hopes her sister Alicia will eventually join her in the capital when she finishes at college with Dallas' South Methodist University.
Their brother Harry is making waves for the Adelaide 36ers in his return to the NBL while 17-year-old Sam has the world at his feet after the Basketball Australia centre of excellence graduate joined the NCAA's Creighton Bluejays.
The bloodlines make it seem like they never had a choice when it came to playing basketball - but Keely and Alicia resisted for as long as they could.
"Alicia and I didn’t start playing until we were nine, I think we were just around it so much we were like ‘nup, we don’t want to play’. Look where we’ve ended up," Keely laughed.
"Our house was super competitive, everything was a competition. Who is the best shooter? Who can do this, who can do that? It was always quite competitive and nobody wanted to lose, so I think that helped in the long run.
"There was definitely some fights, there was definitely some bloody toes from playing barefoot in the driveway, bloody knees and all sorts of things. It was fun.
"It’s nice now that everyone is playing and playing pretty well. Sam is enjoying his first season at college, Alicia has come back really well off her knee injury, so it’s good.
"[Harry] has been doing so well, I think better than we thought. Good for him, it’s really good for his confidence too. Hopefully they can start winning as well but he’s been doing really well, so it’s good for him."
Canberra sit third on the table heading into their clash with Dandenong in a massive reversal of fortunes considering where they have been during Froling's stint at the club.
She admits the lack of double-headers so far have helped, but she isn't looking forward to December when they will be backing up so often the Capitals might feel like there is no time to rest.
But Froling admits there is one road trip during an arduous month she simply can't wait for. A date with the Townsville Fire means she'll finally be going home to see her parents.
"It’s actually really nice this year because we play in Townsville just before Christmas," Froling said.
"I’m excited because usually I don’t go home for Christmas, just because it’s such a quick turnaround. This year it doesn’t work for anybody else, but for [Marianna] Tolo and I, we’re excited we play up there just before Christmas."
But first on the agenda is a clash with the Rangers.
"We’re definitely ready, we want to come out and get back on the winners board," Froling said.
"As for different from last year, it's a lot different. It’s nice obviously winning games and being a team that people fear. People are scared to play us and don’t want to play us, so that’s a nice thing too."
WNBL ROUND SIX
Sunday: Canberra Capitals v Dandenong Rangers at National Convention Centre, 2pm.
