Mum's the Word: Garbin puts hoops on hold for motherhood

• Garbin is expecting her first child in December and is content stepping away from professional basketball
• The former Perth Lynx captain says she’s at peace with possibly not returning to the court
• After a decorated international career, Garbin is focused on family life and now supporting her husband’s career

If it turns out that Darcee Garbin has played her last game of professional basketball, she will be quite content with the Australian Opals, WNBL and European career she's had as she prepares to become a mother for the first time.

There is every chance the 31-year-old returns to play as a mother, but right now all her focus is on enjoying life back in Perth with husband Nic Cody as they prepare to become parents for the first time in December.

When Garbin was finishing up a third season in Hungary and first with Serco Uni Gyor, she found out she was about to be a mother.

Garbin has achieved an enormous amount in her career as Perth Lynx WNBL captain, winning two championships at the Townsville Fire, winning three SBL (now NBL1 West) championships at the Rockingham Flames, and winning titles in both Germany and Hungary.

Throw in her Australian Opals experiences too and it's everything and more that the girl who grew up just outside of Kalgoorlie in Kambalda could have dreamed of.

She's actually missing basketball less than she imagined while juggling work, pregnancy and settling back in Perth too.

"I think it's a conversation that will happen later," Garbin told basketball.com.au.

"I'm due in December so sometime we'll have that in the new year, but I guess when Nic and I were deciding if we wanted to start a family one of the big factors was if I was ready that potentially I could have a baby and never play basketball again.

"There was a bit of grappling with that where I didn’t know if that was the right decision or not because you just don’t know how you will respond physically and mentally.

"I thought that I might be missing basketball more than I am, but life is just going on without it for now and in the new year that's a conversation that Nic and I will have.

"If I wanted to come back and play, I'm the sort of person who would want to do it at the highest level again so we'll have to weigh up if it's worth putting that stress and intensity on all our lives."

Garbin has enjoyed the last few months of living a somewhat 'normal' life of working a nine-to-five job since returning from Hungary and with her and husband Nic preparing to move into a house she initially bought back in 2020 for the first time.

Considering she initially left Kambalda as a teenager and has spent time in Canberra, Townsville, Germany and Hungary throughout her professional career, the life at home is something that might be hard to give up.

"It's super exciting," Garbin said.

"We got married last year and then we went off to Europe again where I played another season in Hungary, and then found out towards the end of the season that I was pregnant.

"It's just gone halfway along and I am not missing basketball a whole lot at the moment, which makes me feel content and happy that this is the next thing we want to do.

"Everyone asks me if I'm going to play again and I just don't know at this stage because I'm enjoying being a normal nine-to-five civilian, and enjoying my weekends.

"I did move out of home when I was 16 to go to AIS and started playing WNBL so for the last 15, 16 years that has been my life and you are a bit of a nomad living out of a suitcase going from season to season. As much as basketball was my life, we're both super excited for this next chapter."

When Garbin and her husband as of last year, Nic Cody, met they were both two of WA's brightest basketball prospects. They certainly envisaged they would be continuing to grow their lives together with keeping on playing.

Cody came back from college at Lander University and was a Perth Wildcats NBL development player and a key player on strong Willetton Tigers teams before a debilitating back injury led to his retirement in 2017.

That's where Garbin will forever be grateful for what her husband has sacrificed in his own career to support her and join her in Hungary over the last couple of years.

That means after the arrival of their first child, she'll happily sacrifice her basketball ambitions for him.

"Nic has been amazing and obviously his basketball career didn’t end as he would have liked when he had to retire due to injuries," Garbin said.

"That was nearly 10 years ago now and he's been so accommodating. He moved overseas a couple of years ago for me to pursue my career to play in Hungary, and then even paused his engineering career after he had just graduated from uni.

"He put that on hold even though he's still been doing some engineering work, it hasn’t been the progression he could have made so I'm super grateful to him.

"I've said to him now that I'm happy to take a seat back and whether I play basketball or not, it's about what he needs us to do so he can pursue his career goals. I want him to have that opportunity now whatever that means for where we have to live or anything."

It wasn’t an easy decision for Garbin to leave home as captain of the Perth Lynx at the end of the 2021/22 WNBL season, but what she found over the last three years playing in Hungary were some basketball and life experiences she'll treasure forever.

It started with two seasons playing for Diosgyori VTK based out of Miskolc. While it was quite an old Soviet-like town still, she enjoyed the experience of living and playing there, and to finish off winning a championship.

"I went in not knowing a whole lot about Hungary as a country which was kind of a good thing," Garbin said.

"It was an exciting new adventure and the first season was hard because I was over there by myself while Nic was finishing his graduate program.

"You do hear so many horror stories of girls going to Europe but I landed in the most perfect place at the club where there was quite a few foreigners. Just as a group of 12 girls, we got along so well both on and off the court, and we were pretty successful.

"Everyone at the club was great and we had brand new college-like amazing facilities too so I was super lucky to have landed there. That's why I went back a second season and that's when we won a championship so that was really nice."

After that 2024 championship winning season, Garbin received an offer she just couldn’t refuse on the other side of Hungry to join UNI Gyor.

If that turns out to be either her last season playing as a professional or at least in Europe, she'll be quite happy.

"Then I got an offer from the rival club on the other side of Hungary and it was financially a very, very amazing deal," Garbin said.

"It was one that I couldn’t say no to especially considering we wanted to start a family and that it was potentially towards the end of my career.

"So in terms of the lifestyle off the court, where I lived the first time was very eastern European and probably more traditional old school, Soviet sort of style. So the town might not have been as nice, but I had great teammates, great facilities and the club was amazing.

"Then when I went to a more western city, it was a lot more modern vibe being closer to Germany and Austria, and it was another great experience with some really great girl, and meeting some lovely people."

No career ever goes off without hurdles and for Garbin it might take a lifetime to shake off the disappointment of missing the Opals team for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, but outside of that and in so many ways, it's been a dream career.

When she reflects on her and netball superstar sister Sophie growing up where they did, if this is the end of her basketball career, there's going to be no regrets certainly for Garbin to look back on because she'll know she gave it her absolute all.

"That's the conversation I've had with Nic about us starting a family and I am feeling very content with the career I've had," Garbin said.

"Obviously last year missing the Paris Olympics was a massive disappointment and it's still something that I don’t know if I ever will completely get over.

"It was such a big goal of mine and I really thought I was in my prime and that I had done anything to put myself in a position to get selected.

"But at the same time, I know that I did everything I could to give myself the best chance and I left no stone unturned to put my best foot forward.

"Outside of that, if I was never to play again, I've had a pretty amazing experience for someone who grew up just out of Kalgoorlie," she added.

"To think that my career would progress how it has is pretty amazing, and I even look at my sister who is thriving in her netball career and yes, playing a game where you put a ball in a hole can cause a lot of problems sometimes, but in the grand scheme of things it's providing us these amazing experiences."