 |
| Myself & Chelsea Pitman |
A Championship & Australian selection and Chelsea Pitman has reached her goals at the age of 23. Not many sports stars can say they have achieved this. When you look at where Chelsea was 18 months ago you would not have thought it was in the making, well not so quickly anyway.
After 2 years in the AIS Netball Program in 2008-09 and gaining selection in the Australian Netball Team for the World Youth Cup in 2009 there was no doubt that Chelsea had talent and potential. When the Mercury Energy Taxtix offered her an opportunity, Chelsea had no hesitation in crossing the Tasman to further develop her skills in Christchurch and start her career in the ANZ Championship. What Chelsea did not foresee was a serious ACL injury in round six that would end her season and ultimately have her looking for a new team for 2011.
Instead of playing out a debut season and being well on her way towards her goals, Chelsea was instead going through rehab. No sports person ever plans for major injury and especially a young aspiring talent. With a great support network and family to help her Chelsea was able to focus on rehabilitation and just saw it as a vital step in her path back to sport and at times felt that rehab could not be done quick enough. Adding to the frustration of rehabilitation was the prospect of also having to find a new club to play for. It must be stated at this point that Chelsea holds no grudges or bad feelings towards the Taxtix as sport is a business and injury or not she was only on a 12 month contract.
Interest had been received from the Queensland Firebirds and Chelsea knew that if she was to be a chance for National selection, playing for an Australian based team would improve her chances immensely. Even though she was from Sydney, Chelsea wanted to know more about the Firebirds and asked around her contacts on what the Firebirds' setup was like. Chelsea knew the Firebirds had an "Amazing Coach in Rose" (Roselee Jencke) and all the feedback was positive. This is a team that had a good culture, their training was intense and the team was in their prime. This is a team that would suite Chelsea in the way they trained and played. When I asked why she chose a team that had previously never finished higher than fifth when her goals included winning a championship, the answer came swiftly. "The Firebirds were a good team in the past, they just needed to learn how to win." Chelsea never had any doubt that the Firebirds could win the championship.
One season and 15 games later, the Firebirds had won the title undefeated and Chelsea had now achieved one of her main goals. What Chelsea did not expect was to be called into the National Team to play for the Diamonds. Within 12 months of getting back on the court Chelsea has achieved her goals and now preparing for the 2012 season is in new territory. Sitting with her and talking about the past and also what the future holds, I can be nothing but impressed. Chelsea is heading into her first pre-season ever injury free and is excited to see how far she can go and what limits she can push herself to. Chelsea does not want to be a "one hit wonder" she may have reached her goals but now the posts have been reset. Now the goals include another winning year and to be a regular for national selection. It is not hard to see Chelsea reaching her new set goals as this young woman is very grounded and yet to reach her peak.
In 2012 it will be more of the same for the Firebirds and Chelsea. The Firebirds have retained the majority of their squad and only have two changes to their squad welcoming Shannon Eagland and Jacinta Messer into their fold. Training will be just as intense and there is no extra pressure or expectation within the team, this is a team that is well coached and managed off the field. Heading into the pre-season competition that will be featuring all the teams in the ANZ championship for the first time the Firebirds are wanting to do well but it will be used more fore working on combinations and getting ready for the season proper. The last thing the Firebirds want is to peak early and get serious injuries to players.
One of the best things you could do this year is to see this team play and from all reports tickets are still available but they might no be for long if 2012 continues on a winning note. Round one is starting on April 1 for the Firebirds, but if you can't get to a game channel Ten is scheduled to show all the games on Ten or One and there will be plenty of live games shown as well. For more information of scheduling visit ANZ Championship Home Site.
Continuing in Part 2 will be more in depth discussion on sport off the field and it was when discussing these aspects I found a great respect for Chelsea and the maturity that is beyond her years. I will go on to discuss the difference for women in sport compared to men and the isssue of role models and charity work. And I look forward to being able to write many more articles on this talented team from Queensland.
No comments:
Post a Comment