Melbourne United Multicultural Stories: Flynn Cameron

As a young basketball player, all Flynn Cameron wanted to do was play for the New Zealand Tall Blacks.

The son of one of the greatest ever Tall Blacks, Pero Cameron, Flynn looked up to the stars he saw on the court, eager to emulate what they were doing.

“Being a young kid, having a father that played for the New Zealand Tall Blacks, I was around the team at a young age,” he said.

“I remember just watching players like Mika Vukona, my dad, Casey Frank, Paul Henare… at a young age I just kind of looked at them like they were my uncles.”

It wasn’t always easy for Cameron as he tried to achieve his dream, with some knocking the aspiring hooper’s connection to New Zealand after moving to Australia when he was seven.

“When I was a kid, I was definitely thrown a couple of curve balls,” he explained.

“People saying ‘he’s not a real Kiwi’. I’d go to represent New Zealand at the junior level and people would say ‘he’s from Aussie’.

“There were certain camps that I wouldn’t be invited to because I’d lived in Australia too long. There were a lot of opportunities missed.”

Despite this, Cameron persevered, going on to represent New Zealand on the junior level internationally before being called into the Tall Blacks squad for the first time in 2022.

Finally able to wear the singlet he saw his father and ‘uncles’ wear, Cameron was overcome with a sense of pride for his nation and culture.

“There’s a lot of pride when it comes to putting on that Tall Blacks jersey, especially from my standpoint.

“When it came to that time where I decided to try out for the team and I got the opportunity to put the uniform on I was almost looking at my uncles like ‘woah’.

“They’ve accomplished so much, and even my dad has accomplished so much… There's definitely a lot of pride in putting on that New Zealand Uniform. It’s bigger than yourself. 

“When we talk about the New Zealand Tall Blacks team, the best way we put it is that we represent the past by doing our best in the present while trying to set things up for the future.”

Cameron will proudly represent his nation again come Sunday afternoon when he hits the court for The Multicultural Game when United host the NZ Breakers at John Cain Arena from 2pm.

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