Sportly.Me, Australia’s home-grown junior athlete development platform, has today announced a multi-year association with emerging Australian Basketball star Shyla Heal. The new partnership will see Shyla Heal become the face of Sportly.Me as it continues its growth as the centrepiece of a junior athlete development program and virtual community that provides training tools and support to coaches, clubs and players of all ages, abilities and across sports.
With basketball identified as one of Sportly’s key engines for growth, given the huge national grassroots participation in the sport, the opportunity to partner with a player widely considered as one of Australia’s most exciting up-and-coming female athletes aligns with Sportly’s own growth ambitions.
As part of the ambassadorship, Heal will provide unique content to Sportly in the form of instructional basketball videos for various skill levels, in addition to providing broader motivational content for the whole Sportly membership community. She will also document her own journey for Sportly, sharing behind the scenes insights as she continues to also challenge herself in her own basketball career.
At just 19 years of age, Shyla has already achieved a huge amount in her burgeoning career. A top 5 scorer in the 2020 WNBL season, she was named to the All-Second Team as she led her Townsville Fire team to the Grand Final. Already a member of the senior Australian Women’s Team, The Opals, she aspires to be chosen in the Olympic Team for Tokyo later this year. And later this month, she will be part of the WNBA Draft where she is expected to be drafted by a WNBA Team to join the best Women’s basketball league in the world.
Sportly.Me’s junior athlete development platform is focused on offering a safe, fun and supporting online training community for young players, to enable them to reach their full potential. It does this through elite training tools including sports specific workouts, performance insights and personal health monitoring. It also enables coaches to train more effectively, providing development tools with a greater focus on junior athlete well-being.
The idea was borne as founder Damien Thomson searched for resources for his own daughters as they started playing basketball, a father keen to support their ambitions but did not know where to turn for guidance.
“We are delighted to welcome Shyla as the face of Sportly.Me and couldn’t think of a better person that epitomises everything we are all about at Sportly. Shyla is a testament to hard work, a focus on goals and having a strong, supportive community around her, something we aim to provide athletes and coaches across the country in a virtual setting,” said Damien Thomson, Founder and CEO of Sportly.
“While Shyla has already experienced great success locally, her career is really just beginning and mirrors our own global growth ambitions, and we look forward to growing together.”
“I’m very proud to be part of the Sportly family. Their mantra of getting better together really resonated with me, as did the opportunity to be part of a supportive online community. This isn’t just about workouts and insights, it’s about providing a safe and positive place for members to share their results, learn and grow,” said Shyla Heal.
“I’ve always been goal oriented and had the good fortune of being surrounded by a large and supportive community as I was coming through. This gave me the confidence and guidance that enabled me to focus on my training, and Sportly provides this knowledge and support to its members. I’m excited to meet and follow Sportly members and utilise the platform myself as I grow my career.”
About Sportly.Me
Sportly.Me is an athlete development and management platform that combines scientific training principles with sport specific workouts and player engagement tools. At Sportly, we are reinventing development of young athletes by building a safe, educational and engaging community around sport…. Accessible by junior players, coaches and clubs all around the world, with the simple aim of helping them get better together.
