Sheffield Sharks forward Marko Backovic almost gave up playing basketball a few years ago but, when the Sharks won the playoffs he knew he wanted to keep playing and winning.
At the age of 18 Marko was playing for the Junior Sharks and was close to being picked for the first team but fell out with the sport as he felt he wasn’t good enough and doubted himself massively.
However, after the Sharks were victorious in the playoffs in 2016 against the Leicester Riders, he got his love back for the game.
Marko went to Stocksbridge High School and started playing basketball aged 10, after his mum, who works at the Sharks, took him to the games.
As he got older he also played football, golf and cricket and grew to a big height of 6’5′ so he carried on playing basketball.
Marko represented England and Great Britain at a young age. He said: “It was amazing, I remember my first tournament for England was the 2011 World Children’s games in Turkey. I was 14 at the time, it was my first time away from my family and from there it just went crazy.
Marko also said: “It fills you with a lot of pride to represent your country however I feel it was a stepping point in my career because before the England call up it was more of a hobby.”
Marko made his debut for the Sharks in 2012, he was in Y11 at school. He said: “It was an amazing feeling to make my debut and to play with some great guys like Mike Tuck who has been at the club for years and is a great role model.”
At 14 Marko was told he was the best player in the country for his age. He also had a lot of interest from the top league in Spain but his mum thought he was too young.
Two years later he had the chance to play in America but unfortunately once again the timing wasn’t right and he later said he was happy to stay and play in England with the Sharks.
He said the highest points in his career were playing for England, especially as it was for the year above, making his Sharks debut and scoring his first points for the Sharks is up there.
Marko said: “So far, I’ve had a pretty good season as my role has grown within the team but as a team I feel like we’ve let a few games slip that we should have probably finished off but I still feel with the talent we have we have the potential to win some silverware this season.”
For the future regarding basketball Marko said: “First and foremost for me personally I would really like to see the Sharks win a league title because since I’ve been watching the Sharks that’s something we’ve never got, but I would also like to develop myself as a player and I want the Sharks to be the best team in the BBL overall, I feel we were a powerhouse and I think recently we’ve been a sleeping-giant.
Sheffield Basketball News 