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16 July 2026  7 min read

From Pontypridd to the USA: Issy Bunyan's journey started with one persistent eight-year-old

For Great Britain prospect Issy Bunyan, it began with an eight-year-old refusing to take ‘no’ for an answer.

At the time, her father had begun coaching basketball sessions at her primary school, but there was one problem – they were only open to boys. While her brother headed off to play each week, Issy was left watching from the sidelines, determined not to stay there for long.

“I was eight years old when my dad started coaching some players at my primary school, but they were just sessions for boys,” she recalled.

“I started nagging him because my brother was going and I couldn't, but eventually I wore him down and those school sessions developed into a club, Pontypridd Panthers, who I played for at all the age groups with the girls' and the boys' teams until I was about 14.”

That persistence would prove to be the first step on a journey that has since taken Bunyan from the valleys of South Wales to professional basketball, college in the United States and through the Great Britain pathway.

It is a journey she insists would never have happened without one person.

“My dad played for Wales when he was younger, he played for Rhondda as well, and he was a good rugby player,” she said. “Him starting the Panthers was a huge thing for basketball where we lived with the club still going strong today.

“I 100% wouldn't be here now without him. I would never have played basketball if it wasn't for him, nor got to America or anything like that – he is the biggest influence on my basketball career.”

Like many young athletes, Bunyan enjoyed more than one sport growing up. Basketball competed for her attention with netball, but when the two began to clash, the decision became inevitable.

“I played netball when I was younger as well which I really enjoyed, and it came to the point where I had to decide between the two because of clashes with training and games, eventually choosing basketball because I thought it was more enjoyable, but also because my dad was doing it and I wanted to play for him.”

As her love for the game grew, so too did her ambitions.

Watching her father represent Wales gave basketball a sense of possibility, while moving to play for Cardiff as a teenager opened her eyes to opportunities she had never previously imagined.

“Having him around definitely inspired me to look at the possibilities basketball could offer me. I wanted to play for Wales because of him and chasing that dream led me to Cardiff where I then learned about and met players who had gone to college in America and played for GB at different levels, so it all started from him in terms of having that awareness and belief that playing to a high level was possible.”

Joining Cardiff Met Archers at 14 marked another significant milestone.

Thrown into Under-16 and Under-18 basketball before eventually progressing into the senior side, Bunyan embraced the challenge of competing against older, more experienced players.

“The main reason I wanted to go there was because they had an all-girls team playing in NBL and I wanted to compete with other girls at that level and see what I was capable of,” she said.

“We had a really good team and the set-up at Cardiff was great for developing young players. It was very different to what I was used to at Pontypridd but I transitioned very easily, it felt like, and worked my way up to the professional team eventually.”

Playing senior basketball as a teenager was initially daunting.

“I was so young and didn't know what to expect nor what was going on a lot of the time to be honest!” she laughed.

“But I had a small role to start with coming off the bench and just grew into it. I got fundamentally, physically and mentally stronger, earned Stef [Collins]'s trust and confidence and just took my opportunity in a year we eventually ended up making the play-offs as well.”

Her development culminated in being named the league's Young Player of the Year before heading to the United States – an honour she admits caught her completely by surprise.

“I won the league's Young Player of the Year in my last season at the club, which was very surprising to me because there was a group of young girls across the league who were all really talented and contributing a lot for their teams.

“To receive that award before I went to college was something I was really grateful for and humbled by.”

Just as importantly, those domestic battles helped forge relationships that now continue in Great Britain colours.

“It helped us all for the future with GB as well because we were all the same age and competing in the age groups for GB together, so we developed relationships competing together and against each other in the league before coming together in the GB environment and helping push each other forward and grow.”

Today, Bunyan is thriving in American college basketball, even if the transition wasn't without its challenges.

“I found college difficult at first, being so far away from home and all the time difference as well, but thankfully this place is so nice, the people are amazing, the scenery is gorgeous and I'm very settled here now.

“I've met some of my best friends, I'm really happy and grateful that I got to make the decision to come here. It's green, there's lots of mountains here, it's beautiful everywhere and feels just like the valleys, honestly.”

Despite everything she has already achieved, Bunyan remains remarkably grounded.

She speaks more about gratitude than goals, preferring to focus on the people who have helped her rather than the milestones she has reached herself.

“I'm proud of where I'm from and it would be amazing one day to get the call-up to represent Wales in the GB senior set-up – not many people have done it in the men's or women's teams, so if that opportunity were to come for me I'd be extremely grateful.

“I don't look too far ahead. I'm quite laid back about those things and grateful for the amazing experiences I've already had. Whatever is to come next, I'm sure it'll be great as well.”

 

 

 

 

 

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That perspective perhaps explains why, despite playing professionally, representing Great Britain and earning a scholarship in the United States, she still feels like the same young girl who first begged her dad to let her join in.

“I think eight-year-old me would be pretty hyped up with what I've achieved so far, but I don't think of these things in terms of my achievements, more the work people have done throughout my journey to push me in the right direction, like my parents, all my family and the coaches I've had. It's them who deserve all the credit for me having these opportunities in life.

“I still feel like a little kid to be honest. The experiences I've had don't feel real to me and haven't sunk in. I take them in, I try to be present, but overall it's just fun and I see them all as another opportunity to enjoy myself with like-minded people who I want to be around.

“I'm pretty good at going with the flow and knowing that whatever happens, happens. I know the opportunities that are meant for me will come my way when they're supposed to and the ones that aren't won't. I don't get too caught up about it, I just stay in my lane and keep working as hard as I can.”

It's an outlook that has served Issy Bunyan well so far.

From a determined eight-year-old in Pontypridd to one of the brightest young prospects in the Great Britain pathway, her story is proof that sometimes the biggest journeys begin with simply refusing to be left on the sidelines.

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