Sara Blicavs (; born 15 February 1993) is an Australian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. She played 15 seasons in the

Women's National Basketball League The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is a professional women's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Australia composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the Women's sports, women's counterpart to the Na ...

between 2009 and 2024.

Career

Blicavs plays in the

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

positions.

WNBL

Blicavs began her career, playing 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 ...

. After a brief stint with the

Dandenong Rangers The Southside Flyers are an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. The Flyers compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at the State Basketball Centre. For sponsorship pur ...

, Blicavs moved to the

Bendigo Spirit The Bendigo Spirit are an Australian professional basketball team based in Bendigo, Victoria. The Spirit play in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at Bendigo Stadium, Red Energy Arena. The team debuted in the ...

. There, she won her first WNBL championship. For the

2015–16 WNBL season The 2015–16 WNBL season is the 36th season of competition since its establishment in 1981. A total of 9 teams contested the league. The regular season was played between October 2015 and February 2016, followed by a post-season involving the top ...

, Blicavs returned to the

. Blicavs has been re-signed for a third season with the Rangers.

National team

Youth level

Blicavs made her international debut with the Under-17 program at the FIBA Oceania Under-16 Championship in 2009. She would then go on to represent Australia at the

FIBA Under-17 World Championship The FIBA Under-17 Basketball World Cup (formerly FIBA Under-17 World Championship) is the under-17 men's world basketball championship organised by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). The inaugural tournament was in July 2010, and is ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, where Australia placed seventh. She would then go on to represent the Gems at the

FIBA Under-19 World Championship The FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup (formerly FIBA Under-19 World Championship) is the under-19 men's world basketball championship organised by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). From its inauguration in 1979, until 2007, it was ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, where Australia narrowly missed out on bronze, placing fourth.

Senior level

Blicavs made her debut with the

Opals Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silicon dioxide, silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3% to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6% and 10%. Due to the amorphous (chemical) physical structure, it is classified as a ...

at the

2015 FIBA Oceania Championship The 2015 FIBA Oceania Championship for Men was the 22nd edition of the FIBA Oceania Championship. The tournament featured a two-game series between Australia and New Zealand. It also served as the qualifying tournament of FIBA Oceania for b ...

, where Australia took home Gold and qualified for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. She also participated in the Olympic Test Event in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, in January 2016. Blicavs played for the Opals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where they lost in the quarterfinal. In May 2025, Blicavs was named in the Opals squad for the 2025 FIBA Women's Asia Cup in China.

Personal life

Blicavs is from

Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

. She is of

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n descent through her father and

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

(

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

) descent through her mother.Geelong Cats community camp sees players go to Diversitat
/ref> Her parents, Andris Blicavs and Karen Blicavs, both played for Australian national basketball teams, and her brother

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

plays for the

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Kardinia Park in South Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

. Her parents' careers in basketball both ended because of knee injuries. She is tall.

References

External links

"Sara Blicavs' remarkable return"
at nbl1.com.au {{DEFAULTSORT:Blicavs, Sara 1993 births Australian women's basketball players Forwards (basketball) Sportswomen from Victoria (state) Australian people of Latvian descent Australian people of Jersey descent Australian Institute of Sport basketball (WNBL) players Living people Summer World University Games medalists in basketball FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Australia Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic basketball players for Australia Basketball players from Melbourne People from Sunbury, Victoria Southside Flyers players 21st-century Australian sportswomen