Ella Sabljak (3×3 basketball) was part of Australia’s first Commonwealth Games women’s wheelchair 3×3 basketball team in Birmingham where her keen ability to find the basket and strong leadership qualities helped Australia win the silver medal. Sabljak, who is a school teacher by profession and works as Paralympics Australia’s Education Officer, picked up her first basketball when she was 16, having experienced various barriers to sporting participation throughout her childhood. The Gold Coast-based guard made her Women’s National Wheelchair Basketball League debut in 2011 suiting up for the Queensland Comets before rolling into her first Australian team that same year. Making her Australian Gliders debut at the 2013 Osaka Cup, Sabljak claimed a Women’s National Basketball League MVP award in 2014. Captaining the national team to silver at the under-25 World Championships in China in 2015, Sabljak’s star continued to rise. She made her Paralympic Games debut at Tokyo 2020, where the team finished in 9th place. Ella has hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy (type 2) which means she has loss of muscle tone below the knee and in her forearms. She lives on the Gold Coast with her fiancé and fellow basketball Paralympian Matt McShane.