Spotlight: Hawks own Luke Pople, Wheelchair Basketball Athlete

Nature or nurture is a classic debate regarding a person's progression, but in Luke Pople’s case – it’s definitely some of both. 

Born with Spina Bifida, Luke Pople’s hoop dreams were delayed when he started using a wheelchair at the age of 13. The trajectory of his life changed when he was approached by Eino Okkonen, the founder of the Roller Hawks National Wheelchair Basketball League, during a shopping centre visit with his family. 

This one interaction has spiralled into a decorated career, winning gold at the 2014 World Championships and the 2022 Commonwealth Games – and most recently, representing Australia at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris. 

Recently having his name engraved on the Illawarra tribute wall in Wollongong, Pople explained how his journey wouldn’t have been the same if he hadn’t grown up there. 

“If it wasn’t introduced to me, I definitely wouldn’t have found it myself,” he said.

“I feel like I worked a long time and worked hard to get to that stage (the Paralympics). It was the last thing that I wanted to tick off my list, to get the call up to do that was pretty special.”

While his success on the court is outstanding, the local hero is also well known as the Illawarra Hawks’ Graphic Designer – creating outstanding content week-to-week on their social media channels. 

In his time with the club, he’s taken on additional roles – getting behind the lens and managing the team’s social media pages. With his fingers in each part of the process, Pople’s vision and creativity have defined the Hawks’ digital presence over the past three years. 

Being surrounded by legends in Brain Goorjian and NBA-level talents like Tyler Harvey and formerly Gary Clark never ceases to amaze him, stating the environment inspires him both on the court and behind a desk. 

This was particularly demonstrated when he was selected for Australia, he explained.

“(The team) called me into the snake pit, and they were all standing in a circle. They'd all signed a big Australian flag for me with good luck messages and whatnot,” he said.

“I hung up on my wall in the village, in my room. Having those guys support me and the Hawks organisation support me to fulfil my dreams and be able to play basketball for Australia is pretty awesome. I definitely wouldn't be able to do it without all their support.” 

Experiences like this help enrich Pople’s connection to the club, to the point where he now considers this small group like his family. He explained that the entire organisation treats him just like anyone else, which is a refreshing feeling for him – allowing him to feel just as comfortable as he would be at home.

Given he couldn’t participate in traditional sports, graphic design was Pople’s “in” to the abled sports world.

Being a sports fanatic, he got his “itch” by watching sports and consuming sports content. While one of his other passions, art, collided to form his future career. 

With the Roller Hawks having very little graphic design on their pages at the time, he started watching YouTube videos to learn how to create content for his club. 

“I’d seen NRL and NBL teams I followed on social media have a visual presence that I thought would be cool for us,” he said. 

“I was all self-taught, with the help of the videos obviously. Doing it now and being in the position that I'm in now, it's definitely a dream job. To be working at a club I grew up supporting – it’s pretty cool.” 

Pople said he finds it extremely fulfilling to build connections with the players for the club he grew up supporting. Now being able to create content that not only he is proud of, but the players are as well. 

“I get that excitement just with any kind of big milestones for our guys,” he said. 

“It's exciting to be able to design something cool that they can share and be proud of, show their friends and family and their kids in the future.”

There are many people behind the scenes to make something like a professional sports team work properly. And Pople is a shining example of how a single person can impact a club, especially in a community with a rich history and family-like connections everywhere you look.