Joshua Allison

Once a promising able-bodied basketballer, Joshua ‘Truck’ Allison competed in the South East Australian Basketball League for two years in his early 20s. However, in 2011 he fell more than two metres through a handrail at his home in Croydon and, paralysed from the chest down, he returned to the court in 2013 to test his skills in wheelchair basketball.

From there he experienced a meteoric rise to fame, culminating in his debut for Australia in a friendly tournament in Belgium in 2014 and his selection for the IWBF World Wheelchair Basketball Championships in Incheon, South Korea later that year, where the Rollers won gold. Achieving a 6-point win over the USA in the final, Joshua lists this among his greatest sporting moments to date.

Training every day from 2014, Joshua’s efforts were validated in June 2016 when he was selected to tour Great Britain for the 2016 Continental Clash, where the Rollers claimed silver. His impact was especially felt against the Netherlands when he and Paralympic teammate Matt McShane opened up the lanes at the offensive end and fed their front court.

Shockingly, at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games the Rollers were eliminated from gold medal contention in a 23-point loss to Great Britain in the quarter finals.

Outside of training and competition, Joshua enjoys fishing, hunting deer and watching The Walking Dead. He has a Certificate III in Bricklaying from Holmesglen Institute in Moorabbin, Victoria, and is a father of three.

In 10 years’ time he hopes to still be competing and to have a couple of Paralympic medals under his belt.