Basketball Besties
Before Steph Reid and Courtney Woods became Basketball besties, they were enemies. At least that’s the vibes the latter felt when the pair faced off in College.
“She didn’t want anything to do with me, she was actually a bit scary.”
And now to Reid’s right of reply…
“Court will always say I ignored her which is not true! We definitely weren’t mates at that point but we knew of each other.”
Fast forward a few years on and the duo touched down in Townsville at the same time preparing to play alongside each other for the Fire. Their relation as teammates transitioned to companionship, inspired by a shared ambition, with Woods recalling intimate conversations about wanting to prove themselves in the WNBL.
“When Steph and I got here neither of us were playing a lot. Neither of us were cemented in the league and the fact that we’ve kind of grown together over these past few seasons and the amount of hours we put in together off the court, like in the gym, we really kind of focused on our development. And I think leaning on each other has really been helpful, so yeah it’s really awesome to see where we both are now.”
Rising through the ranks together, they’ve celebrated each other’s individual accolades along the way, as if they were their own, and of course shared in the ultimate glory, last season. Being there for one another during difficult times though, forged their formidable friendship, with Woods adamant tough talks built and unbreakable bond between them.
“We’ve lost by 40 together we’ve won championships together we’ve experienced the ups and downs together and I think when you have a friend and teammate that can be really honest with you and you don’t get your feelings hurt, that’s really rare. So, I really value that in Steph, we can look to each other for that emotional support.
Steph, on this occasion… agreed.
“Yeah 100% I mean this game has a lot of highs and lows and a lot of different things you battle, and I think having someone like her who’s been through a similar journey as me, it really does bring you closer together and give you someone that you can lean and rely on. She’s one of my closest mates for a reason.”
While speaking the truth to each other has solidified their camaraderie, Courtney quite often unintentionally lies, leaving Steph searching for correct information from someone else.
Oh man ‘Woody Rumours’ yeah she’s the head of the rumour mill but then she’ll tell me something and text me later and say oh actually that’s not true. She definitely needs to check her sources, but yeah her Woody rumours are outrageous.”
Which leads us back to the start of the article, where one wonders was Woody once spreading some white lies about an opponent… who later became her bestie?