Sammy Mills and nephew Patrick are members of one of the very few families that can boast two generations of Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) scholarship holders.

Individually, both athletes are trailblazers too: basketball athlete Sammy Mills was the second Indigenous athlete to receive an AIS scholarship (in 1983) and Patrick Mills is literally a trailblazer — using the training and experience gained through his AIS scholarship (2005–07) he has became one of the few Australians to play in the US National Basketball Association league, as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers.

In 1983, 19-year-old Sammy Mills left his home on Thursday Island (in the Torres Strait) to travel with his partner and newborn son to the recently established AIS in Canberra. At that time support networks for athletes (who were billeted at the Australian National University) were in their embryonic stage. These conditions, combined with the dramatic change in living environment and climate, meant Sammy was unable to settle in Canberra and returned home six months later.

Sammy’s nephew Patrick joined the AIS in 2005 and, one year later, at age 17 he became the youngest ever member of the Australian national basketball team. He was also named Basketball Australia’s junior male player of the year and went on to become captain of the Australian under-19 basketball team.

In 2008, Patrick performed outstandingly at the Beijing Olympic Games, scoring the highest number of points for Australia. Following the Games, Patrick was named Male Sportsperson of the Year at the 2008 Deadly Awards and received Basketball Australia’s 2008 Australian International Player of the Year award.

After three years as an AIS athlete, Patrick was offered a scholarship at St Mary’s College of California. He went on to be named the West Coast Conference’s 2008 Freshman of the Year and was a finalist in the Bob Cousy Award, which honours the top point guard in US college basketball. Finally, in June of this year, Patrick was drafted to play in the US National Basketball Association league, as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers.

While Patrick is just starting his career in the United States, Sammy has opted to remain in his home on Thursday Island, which he returned to in 1997 after completing a Bachelor of Nursing at the University of New England. Sammy is now a senior nurse in the island’s primary healthcare centre, although he continues to love basketball and, in the time between leaving the AIS and commencing study, he travelled Australia coaching hundreds of young children.