The last time Paul Tsapatolis played organised football he was an Under 13 playing for the Yarraville Seddon Eagles.
On Tuesday he stepped onto GMHBA Stadium alongside three-time premiership player Isaac Smith as one of Geelong’s new 2021 additions.
It’s a rapid rise through the ranks, but not one without reason.
The 18-year-old Cat has enormous upside, and it’s not just because of his 202cm, developed frame and international basketball experience.
While short-lived, Tsapatolis made some waves in his brief flirtation with Australian Rules Football.
In his last organised season, Tsapatolis was the Under 13A runner-up league best and fairest in the Western Region Football League.
“I had to miss some games that season due to basketball,” he says.
“I had to run out at half time of the grand final because I had state training, I was pretty disappointed that I wasn’t able to finish that game.
“I was the leading goalkicker as well, so I enjoyed it. If I had the mindset I have now back then I wouldn’t even give it up.”
The lure of basketball became too strong after that year with the Eagles, leading Tsapatolis to represent Australian junior teams in the Asia Cup (2018) and Oceania Championships (2019).
At the Oceania Championships Tsapatolis was named to the All-Star Five – the best five players of the tournament.
He then received an offer to play professional basketball, an offer which he refused having already decided to pursue his AFL dream.
“An agent in Greece that I’d spoken to a few times said here’s an offer, are you keen to play and when will you be able to be here? Can you be here in a month?” he says.
“I told him no, actually I’m trying to pursue a pathway from Category B into the AFL system. He didn’t even know what AFL was.”
A Category B Rookie can be signed and paid outside the salary cap, on the condition that they haven’t been registered to play football in the last three years.
Tsapatolis missed the culture and camaraderie that football brings.
“It’s completely different, especially towards basketball where there’s ten people in a team,” he says.
“It’s a completely different atmosphere and culture here.
“The culture, even in the locker room and the team meeting everyone is just around each other.
“I knew from last year at Oceania after I won the gold and All-Star Five, that I wanted to do footy and nothing really got in the way and I never really lost sight of being an AFL player.
“I genuinely just missed it. I came to an age where I wasn’t going to be forced into a corner and I just wanted to do what made myself happy.”
Having earned his spot on an AFL list, Tsapatolis now turns his attention to translating the skills that made him an elite basketballer onto an AFL ground.
First and foremost is his footwork.
“You’ve got to be very quick on your feet, obviously the leaping because you’re always jumping up and down for rebounds, so I think a lot of the footwork stuff I’m quite good at,” he says.
“I’m quite good in the air, but definitely in the endurance department it’s always something that you can get better at.
“The resources we have down here at the club you don’t get every day, so I’m just getting better every day that I can and don’t take it for granted.”
