Overlooked for a spot in the Hockeyroos, a perfect storm of events pushed Aleisha Power over the edge

Aleisha Power can vividly remember when her mental health hit rock bottom.

It was 2019. She was on the fringes of the Australian hockey team, dealing with being overlooked for a spot in the Hockeyroos squad.

And then a perfect storm of events pushed her over the edge.

“I had a really rough relationship breakdown,” she said.

“And then I totalled my car. And then while I was loaning my mum’s car, my wallet was stolen out of the car and they went on a tap and pay spree and took a lot of money.

“It just felt like someone was tipping a bucket of water over me.

“I just felt like I could not breathe anymore. I was like, I need help.”

Individually, these events might not seem catastrophic, but for Power it followed years of relentlessly pursuing a spot in the Hockeyroos, following her debut in 2017.

Power has now won medals at the Commonwealth Games and World Cup, after recovering from a mental health battle.(AAP: Darren England)

“[I thought] I’ve made it now I’ve played for the Hockeyroos. And I really want to be in the squad,” she said.

“But then it’s like ‘nah, nah, nah’. And you can’t really commit to a full-time job or a career, because you’re like, ‘what if I can do it and play for the Hockeyroos?’

“Then you’re in this mindset of like, well, why am I committing to this? I don’t know if I’m ever going to make it.

“I felt like my life did not move for like three years.”

The repeated rejection, the cascade of external events and unacknowledged poor mental health led Power to cycle through periods of manic motivation to deep crashes.

A hockey goalkeeper tries to save a ball in training
Power cycled through stages of manic energy and isolation, as she tried to deal with poor mental health.(ABC News: Tom Wildie)

“I’m going do everything, I’m going to be this, so I’m going to work my ass off, to then like, I can’t function as a human, I’m crying all the time. I don’t want to leave my house,” she said.

Power realised she needed help, and reached out to psychologists at the Western Australian Institute of Sport.

It took her 18 months to start feeling like herself again, which coincided with her return to the Hockeyroos team, and ultimately the squad.

From Northam to the world stage

Power grew up playing a lot of different sports in Northam, a 100 kilometre drive north-east of Perth.

She moved to Perth as a teenager, going to boarding school while she played hockey.

At 16, she was selected at a junior Australian level, eventually working her way up to the Hockeyroos.

A hockey goalkeeper tries to save a ball in training
Power has now played six times for Australia, after not making the side for four years
 (ABC News: Tom Wildie)

“The hardest part was actually cracking the Hockeyroos squad as a goalkeeper. It’s quite a competitive position,” she said.

“It took me four years after my debut to grind away to finally get selected on my squad and that was kind of like finally my foot was in the door at a career playing for Australia.”

Since returning to the Hockeyroos squad, Power has won a Commonwealth Games silver and a World Cup bronze medal.

A serious looking woman points a hockey stick towards the camera.
It took Aleisha Power four long years to get back in the Hockeyroos team. (AAP: Richard Wainwright)

But she’s also taking on another challenge, becoming an Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Mental Fitness Ambassador.

It’s a partnership between the AIS and the Black Dog Institute which facilitates current and former elite athletes speaking with high-schoolers about mental health.

Power is one of 22 ambassadors, along with boxer Caitlin Parker and swimmer Mitch Larkin.

“I just remember feeling a lot of pressure to be something in high school, like you have to be something and you have to choose a career,” she said.

“I don’t think there was any sort of like, ‘are you looking after yourself? Can you be a good person?’

A hockey goalkeeper smiles after training
Power is one of 22 elite athletes who will visit schools to talk to children about mental health.(ABC News: Glyn Jones)

“I feel like [school was] missing the human side of school kids.

“If you’re not looking after yourself and knowing your worth and having a healthy mind, you’re not going to be successful and whatever you choose to do anyway.”

More athletes seeking help

Power is not an anomaly in terms of elite athletes seeking help, with the AIS revealing numbers have more than doubled in four years.

Source link

#Overlooked #spot #Hockeyroos #perfect #storm #events #pushed #Aleisha #Power #edge