A Familiar Voice in the Crowd
Jan 06, 2023 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Kristy Dallinger wears a gray t-shirt and sits in the first row of section 17 inside Bramlage Coliseum. She is impossible to miss, what with how she holds up a large white posterboard — "AUSSIE," it reads — and cheers for the Kansas State women's basketball team and Rebekah, her youngest of two daughters. These times are rare, and mother and daughter soak it up, thoughts harkening back at times to Rebekah's youth, when Kristy drove her to basketball or netball games down in Australia, back when Rebekah lived one bedroom away.
It's an amazing thing, how life changes, and how fast Rebekah seemed to grow up, and how basketball, this game she first played at age 8, when she cried because she didn't like the physicality, swept Rebekah to the United States, and how Kristy laid in bed and cried for three days, because her best friend was gone, the house was quiet, and Rebekah was chasing a dream halfway across the world.
They FaceTime at least once a week — "The internet is my savior," Kristy says — and Rebekah texts her mother each day just to check in, that proverbial knock on the bedroom door, just to say that she's home.
And Rebekah is home, and she's fit in quite nicely with the K-State women's basketball team, and she's an absolute treat to watch, what with her bubbly personality, how she dances to the Wabash Cannonball during warmups, how she is no longer afraid to toss her body around, grab loose balls, and delight the crowd through her tenacity and work ethic. She doesn't score a ton of points, doesn't have to, and the team wouldn't be the same without her as a part of it. That's the impact she's making halfway across the world, which Kristy experienced live for the first time at Bramlage Coliseum on Wednesday night.
"What do I admire most about her?" Kristy says. "Her strength. The fact that she's come halfway across the world without her family and carries her positivity and outgoingness — I don't think she would've lasted this long if she hadn't grown as a person and become more outgoing, which is something I strive for, because I tend to stay in my own little hole.
"Bekah has just made the world her own."
As we mentioned, Rebekah was 8 the first time she played in a basketball game. She lived in New South Wales. Four family members were going to play in a local competition. They needed a fifth player. They asked Rebekah to play. She said, "No way." She was a shy and anxious girl. They convinced her to play. She refused to touch the basketball.
"I stood in the corner and cried the whole game," she says.
Today, she's a 5-foot-9 junior guard at K-State. She's the first Australia native in K-State women's basketball history. She played in 32 games last season. She scored 114 points, grabbed 52 rebounds and added 33 assists. She also made 26 3-pointers. This season, she's played in 13 games and has scored 17 points and plays while battling a lingering knee injury that she really doesn't talk much about — she played 15 minutes in the Wildcats' 86-72 win over Oklahoma State on Wednesday — because she doesn't want to take away from the fun that she has every day, how she still reaches the parking lot at Ice Family Basketball Center and wonders if this is some sort of dream — how many girls get to do this? — and she's super grateful for this opportunity, and to be a part of the K-State family.
Rebekah came to K-State after transferring from Miles Community College in Montana — "When she left for juco, I cried for three days," Kristy says — where she was named 2021 National Junior College Athletics Association Division I Player of the Year. It's truly amazing this path that brought the crying 8-year-old girl to K-State. What isn't surprising is the love of her mother, who surprised Rebekah one night last April. Rebekah thought she was going to Powercat Sports Grill for lunch with teammates and coaches. Her mom, who traveled halfway around the world, surprised her at lunch, and there were plenty of waterworks.
They hadn't seen each other in person in nearly a year and a half.
And now, here Kristy is again, this time watching Rebekah play live for the first time in Manhattan — part of a nine-day stay in the Little Apple, which reminds Kristy and Rebekah of their beloved Dubbo, Australia, a town of 40,000 where Kristy grew up and where Rebekah and sister Maddison were born.
Rebekah's family nickname is "Wizard of Aus" — a nod to her Australian roots — and she took her mother to the Wizard of Oz museum during her trip to Manhattan, which ended on Friday.
"I miss her and love her," Kristy says. "What an amazing time she's having here. She absolutely loves it. I just want to thank everyone from Manhattan because they've just taken her in as one of their own. She has told me that she doesn't want to come home, but I might have to get her a little bit — she's coming home for holidays and during summer break she's coming home."
For now, Kristy is in the front row of section 17 holding the "AUSSIE" sign and cheering for Rebekah and the Wildcats. Afterward Kristy is the star of the show. Players' parents, many of whom have taken in Rebekah like one of their own children, take turns hugging Kristy — "It's so great to finally meet you face-to-face," Jennifer Ebert says — before Kristy begins taking a mental trip down memory lane to when this dream for Rebekah began.
"I just think she's just a beautiful person inside and out and loves everybody," Kristy says. "She'll treat anybody like family and do anything for them."
Immediately after the game, Rebekah hugs her mom while wearing her white No. 14 game jersey.
"This means everything," Rebekah says. "She helped me to start playing basketball. It's just so fun to see her in the stands. And I know she's crazy in the stands. It's so fun to hear her on the court again."
Kristy will see Rebekah again. But it won't be for a while. She'll return to Manhattan to Rebekah's graduation in fall 2024. Rebekah will receive her degree in Human Development and Family Science. Fitting, because she's all about family.
She's a FaceTime or text away, even though she is halfway around the world. She has her second family in Manhattan to watch over her.
"K-State is awesome, and this is awesome," Rebekah says. "It's family. It's what we wanted. That's what Coach Mittie and the coaches told us in recruiting, is that this is like a big family. That's one of the reasons I came to K-State. Coming here and experiencing that, it's been that — one big family."
And one mother's love from halfway across the world.
Kristy Dallinger wears a gray t-shirt and sits in the first row of section 17 inside Bramlage Coliseum. She is impossible to miss, what with how she holds up a large white posterboard — "AUSSIE," it reads — and cheers for the Kansas State women's basketball team and Rebekah, her youngest of two daughters. These times are rare, and mother and daughter soak it up, thoughts harkening back at times to Rebekah's youth, when Kristy drove her to basketball or netball games down in Australia, back when Rebekah lived one bedroom away.
It's an amazing thing, how life changes, and how fast Rebekah seemed to grow up, and how basketball, this game she first played at age 8, when she cried because she didn't like the physicality, swept Rebekah to the United States, and how Kristy laid in bed and cried for three days, because her best friend was gone, the house was quiet, and Rebekah was chasing a dream halfway across the world.
They FaceTime at least once a week — "The internet is my savior," Kristy says — and Rebekah texts her mother each day just to check in, that proverbial knock on the bedroom door, just to say that she's home.
And Rebekah is home, and she's fit in quite nicely with the K-State women's basketball team, and she's an absolute treat to watch, what with her bubbly personality, how she dances to the Wabash Cannonball during warmups, how she is no longer afraid to toss her body around, grab loose balls, and delight the crowd through her tenacity and work ethic. She doesn't score a ton of points, doesn't have to, and the team wouldn't be the same without her as a part of it. That's the impact she's making halfway across the world, which Kristy experienced live for the first time at Bramlage Coliseum on Wednesday night.
"What do I admire most about her?" Kristy says. "Her strength. The fact that she's come halfway across the world without her family and carries her positivity and outgoingness — I don't think she would've lasted this long if she hadn't grown as a person and become more outgoing, which is something I strive for, because I tend to stay in my own little hole.
"Bekah has just made the world her own."
As we mentioned, Rebekah was 8 the first time she played in a basketball game. She lived in New South Wales. Four family members were going to play in a local competition. They needed a fifth player. They asked Rebekah to play. She said, "No way." She was a shy and anxious girl. They convinced her to play. She refused to touch the basketball.
"I stood in the corner and cried the whole game," she says.
Today, she's a 5-foot-9 junior guard at K-State. She's the first Australia native in K-State women's basketball history. She played in 32 games last season. She scored 114 points, grabbed 52 rebounds and added 33 assists. She also made 26 3-pointers. This season, she's played in 13 games and has scored 17 points and plays while battling a lingering knee injury that she really doesn't talk much about — she played 15 minutes in the Wildcats' 86-72 win over Oklahoma State on Wednesday — because she doesn't want to take away from the fun that she has every day, how she still reaches the parking lot at Ice Family Basketball Center and wonders if this is some sort of dream — how many girls get to do this? — and she's super grateful for this opportunity, and to be a part of the K-State family.
Rebekah came to K-State after transferring from Miles Community College in Montana — "When she left for juco, I cried for three days," Kristy says — where she was named 2021 National Junior College Athletics Association Division I Player of the Year. It's truly amazing this path that brought the crying 8-year-old girl to K-State. What isn't surprising is the love of her mother, who surprised Rebekah one night last April. Rebekah thought she was going to Powercat Sports Grill for lunch with teammates and coaches. Her mom, who traveled halfway around the world, surprised her at lunch, and there were plenty of waterworks.
They hadn't seen each other in person in nearly a year and a half.
And now, here Kristy is again, this time watching Rebekah play live for the first time in Manhattan — part of a nine-day stay in the Little Apple, which reminds Kristy and Rebekah of their beloved Dubbo, Australia, a town of 40,000 where Kristy grew up and where Rebekah and sister Maddison were born.
Rebekah's family nickname is "Wizard of Aus" — a nod to her Australian roots — and she took her mother to the Wizard of Oz museum during her trip to Manhattan, which ended on Friday.
"I miss her and love her," Kristy says. "What an amazing time she's having here. She absolutely loves it. I just want to thank everyone from Manhattan because they've just taken her in as one of their own. She has told me that she doesn't want to come home, but I might have to get her a little bit — she's coming home for holidays and during summer break she's coming home."
For now, Kristy is in the front row of section 17 holding the "AUSSIE" sign and cheering for Rebekah and the Wildcats. Afterward Kristy is the star of the show. Players' parents, many of whom have taken in Rebekah like one of their own children, take turns hugging Kristy — "It's so great to finally meet you face-to-face," Jennifer Ebert says — before Kristy begins taking a mental trip down memory lane to when this dream for Rebekah began.
"I just think she's just a beautiful person inside and out and loves everybody," Kristy says. "She'll treat anybody like family and do anything for them."
Immediately after the game, Rebekah hugs her mom while wearing her white No. 14 game jersey.
"This means everything," Rebekah says. "She helped me to start playing basketball. It's just so fun to see her in the stands. And I know she's crazy in the stands. It's so fun to hear her on the court again."
Kristy will see Rebekah again. But it won't be for a while. She'll return to Manhattan to Rebekah's graduation in fall 2024. Rebekah will receive her degree in Human Development and Family Science. Fitting, because she's all about family.
She's a FaceTime or text away, even though she is halfway around the world. She has her second family in Manhattan to watch over her.
"K-State is awesome, and this is awesome," Rebekah says. "It's family. It's what we wanted. That's what Coach Mittie and the coaches told us in recruiting, is that this is like a big family. That's one of the reasons I came to K-State. Coming here and experiencing that, it's been that — one big family."
And one mother's love from halfway across the world.
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