By Mimi Sillar
There are athletes who swear by lucky socks. Others have a pre-game playlist they won’t change for the world.
For Australia’s youngest wheelchair basketball 3×3 player, 16-year-old Ebony Stevenson, it’s Converse.
“I have a little obsession with Converse, if you can’t tell,” she laughs.
She’s worn them ever since she first picked up a basketball at 13. There was one tournament where she tried something different.
“It just felt wrong, you know.”
So when it came time for her Commonwealth Games debut, there was never any question what she’d be wearing.
An Indigenous artist and family friend, Joanne Hill, transformed two fresh pairs into something far more personal, weaving elements of Ebony’s journey into the design. Working with barely 48 hours’ notice, she spent around 12 hours on each pair.
“I just love them,” Ebony says. “She’s done such a good job.”
The shoes tell the story of where Ebony is now. But getting to Glasgow started long before the artwork dried.
339 days before being selected for Glasgow 2026, Ebony printed a countdown at school and set herself one goal: make the Commonwealth Games team. Plenty of people thought she was dreaming. Ebony never did.
“I’m like, ‘No, I’m going.'”
That quiet confidence has carried her to Glasgow, where she’s balancing the excitement of her first major Games with the reality of being a teenager still figuring things out. Between international tournaments she’s squeezing in school, even sitting semester exams while competing in Spain.
“It’s just like Hail Mary,” she jokes. “I’m still passing. Thank God.”
Despite being just 16, the 2025 WAIS Young Athlete of Year isn’t fazed by sharing the village with some of Australia’s most experienced athletes. Instead, she’s soaking it all in. Learning from veteran teammates, introducing herself to athletes like fellow West Australian Amy Atwell, and embracing the rare opportunity for para and able-bodied athletes to compete side by side.
Walking into Australia’s headquarters was the moment it all became real.
“Pardon my French, but I was like, ‘Oh shit’… we’re actually that type of green and gold.”
Now, after 339 days of believing before everyone else did, Ebony is set to take centre stage at the Commonwealth Games.
Wearing green and gold, and, naturally, Converse.
The Basketball (3×3) and Wheelchair Basketball (3×3) competition begins on Friday 24 July at Glasgow 2026, with the women’s Wombats taking on England in their first pool match.
