Tayla Roberts (born 16 February 1993) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

professional basketball player.

Professional career

WNBL

Roberts began her professional career in 2009, for the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

. She would later to go on to receive the

WNBL Rookie of the Year Award The WNBL Youth Player of the Year (formerly the WNBL Rookie of the Year Award) is an annual Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) award given since the 1988 WNBL season. The award underwent a makeover in the 2019–20 season with new criteria ...

. Roberts has spent time with a range of WNBL teams in her young career. After the AIS, Roberts was signed by the then defending champions,

Bulleen Boomers The Melbourne Boomers are an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. The Boomers compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play the majority of their home games at Melbourne Sports Centre – Par ...

. She then had a one-season stint with the

Sydney Uni Flames The Sydney Flames are an Australian professional basketball team based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Flames compete in the Women's National Basketball League The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is the pre-eminent professional wo ...

. After a one-year absence, she then signed with the defending champions in the

Bendigo Spirit Bendigo Spirit is one of three Victorian basketball teams in the Australian Women's National Basketball League. The team, based in the regional city of Bendigo, Victoria, joined the competition from the 2007/08 season. History The Bendigo Spiri ...

. For the 2015–16 season, she returned to Victoria, with the rebranded

Melbourne Boomers The Melbourne Boomers are an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. The Boomers compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play the majority of their home games at Melbourne Sports Centre – Pa ...

National team

Youth level

Roberts had an extremely successful and influential youth career for the Australian national team. Roberts made her international debut at the 2009

FIBA Oceania Under-16 Championship The FIBA Oceania Under-15 Championship is an under-15 basketball championship in the International Basketball Federation's Oceania zone. Since 2018, the competition previously known as FIBA Oceania Under-16 Championship, which was a qualifier f ...

Brisbane, Australia Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, where she took home Gold and secured Australia's place at the inaugural Under-17 World Championship the following year. Roberts would go on to represent Australia at the

FIBA World Championship The FIBA Basketball World Cup, also known as the FIBA World Cup of Basketball or simply the FIBA World Cup, between 1950 and 2010 known as the FIBA World Championship, is an international basketball competition contested by the senior men's nat ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

where Australia placed seventh. At this tournament Roberts averaged 16.1 points per game. She then transitioned to represent the

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at the

2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship The 2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Latvian: 2011. gada FIBA pasaules čempionāts līdz 19 gadu vecumam) was the 10th edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship contested by ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. At this tournament she was the highest scorer in any single game, scoring 41 points against Japan. Despite averaging 15.9 points per game on a strong Australian team, the team narrowly missed out on bronze, placing fourth.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Tayla 1993 births Living people Australian women's basketball players Sportswomen from Tasmania Australian Institute of Sport basketball (WNBL) players Forwards (basketball)