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Laura Gillis continues to take great pride in representing the Perth Wheelcats in the Women’s National Wheelchair Basketball League while embracing having more home games in 2025 as the season resumes this weekend.

The Wheelcats currently have seven wins and five losses so far in the 2025 WNWBL season on the back of finishing their home series almost three weeks ago against the Sydney Uni Lions at Bendat Basketball Centre winning the Sunday encounter 48-40.

Now after a couple of weeks break, the WNWBL season resumes this weekend with the Wheelcats hitting the road once more for games against the Victoria Wonders on Friday night, Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.

With the Wonders only just above the Wheelcats in the standings with an 8-4 record, it will be a defining weekend for Gillis and her team to close the regular season.

Having had the last couple of weeks to digest the opening four rounds of the season, Gillis has enjoyed getting back on court with the Wheelcats and with their response after a tough series against the Sydney Blues, and how things are coming together.

“It has been great to get back on the court with the team and I’d say we’ve done well to identify areas to improve on as we’ve gone through and quickly addressing them to bring a better game,” Gillis said.

“It was a great feeling to get the three wins against Adelaide. As a team we really pulled together to after playing the Blues, we’re focused on always moving forward as a team and we proved to ourselves that we can do that in our round against Adelaide.”

After starting the season on the road to the Gold Coast Rollers where the Wheelcats won all three encounters, the first home series took place against the Sydney Blues where Perth did lose all three of those contests.

They remained at home to host the Adelaide Thunder next up and scored three thumping wins before then getting to remain in Perth for two losses and a win against the Sydney Uni Lions.

To have already had three series at home to play at Bendat Basketball Centre is something Gillis is certainly thankful for as they head into the last round back on the road in Melbourne this weekend.

“It has been great to have three home rounds this season, it’s such a good opportunity to play in front of our biggest supporters our family and friends,” she said.

“It has also been a great opportunity to build support for our team and our sport.”

Gillis is one of four players at the Wheelcats to have played all 12 games so far this season where she is averaging 7.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.0 steals in her 27.7 minutes of court time.

She is happy with the role she has been playing and what the Wheelcats are building under coach Michelle Swain.

“I’ve been feeling pretty good about my season so far, I’ve had great support from Michelle in identifying areas to improve on and implementing strategies to work on them,” Gillis said.

“Having worked with most of the team for a few years now I’m comfortable in knowing what they need from me and knowing that they have confidence in me to support them too.”

In the bigger picture, Gillis continues to feel a tremendous sense of pride in being able to represent Perth through the Wheelcats on the national stage, and with everything that the sport continues to provide for her.

“It means a lot to me to be part of the Wheelcats, we have a great group of women who all have their own strengths and experiences to bring to the team,” Gillis said.

“I have always felt supported by the team and they have been a big part of my growth as a player. Being able to represent Perth alongside such a strong team is amazing.

“I am so grateful for the sport and what I have an achieved so far. Playing gives me a sense of freedom being able to move up and down the court at a fast pace and getting to play a sport I enjoyed growing.

“It has also given me the opportunity to spend time with some amazing people who have supported me on and off the court.”

Article – Chris Pike