Olympics: Nick Kay's proud family ready for the Olympic ride

In less than a month now the Tamworth product will take to the court in Tokyo for the Boomers.

"It's absolutely wonderful news," a proud Terrie told the Leader.

"We were just so excited for him."

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Unfortunately they will have to watch on from afar.

"Paul took the Olympics off (work) ages ago with the intention of going if he made it," she said.

But with overseas spectators not permitted it will mean instead being glued to the television.

Also eagerly watching on will be Terrie's dad Phil (Maher), who is Nick's no.1 supporter.

"He'll be watching every game and taking stats on every player and passing on words of wisdom," she said.

The news came as a relief after an anxious few weeks.

"You're never confident because there's always such great players out there," Terrie said.

There was also the fact that he wasn't in the spotlight as much as some of the other players or he might otherwise have been if he was still with the Wildcats rather than playing in Spain.

Last month he moved a step closer, surviving the first cut as the 24-strong squad named in February was trimmed to 19. That was then whittled down to the final 12 following a selection camp in the US.

Reflecting on his early basketball days, Terrie recalled how it all started because "he was taller than everybody else and didn't want to be bigger than everyone else".

"His teacher in Year 2 said it might be worth getting him into a sport where it's an advantage to be taller," she said.

His introduction to representative basketball was about as inauspicious as you can get. In his first game for the Thunderbolts his under-12s team were beaten by more than 100 points.

But it didn't deter the then nine-year old.

"He was just so doggedly determined," Terrie said.

She recalled another instance when he was 15 and "smashed" his toe "slam dunking in the backyard".

Requiring a complete toe reconstruction, when they were visiting the surgeon, the surgeon asked Nick why it was important that his toe be fixed.

"He said 'I play basketball and I'm going to play in America'," she said.

In what is a perfect illustration of two of the traits that have got Nick to where he is - determination and commitment - she noted that the surgery put him out of basketball for about three months but he still turned up to training and just sat in the bleechers and watched.

Another trait is his appetite for hard work.

"He has an exceptionally high work ethic," Terrie said.

"He trains when they don't have training days."

That extends on to court; his work off the ball one of the things that sets him apart.

The Boomers open their campaign against Nigeria on Sunday July 25. They then take on Italy on Wednesday July 28 before rounding out their pool games against Germany on Saturday July 31.

Fortunately for the Kay's all three games will be playing in 'prime time' tipping off at 6.20pm AEST.

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