https://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/sport/local-sport/townsvilles-gold-coast-sun-ellie-hampson-reveals-key-mentality-change/news-story/0ef3aac65587ae3ebbfd86eb2d8648d8 Life as a Gold Coast Sun has forced Ellie Hampson to grow up quickly. The Townsville product’s introduction to the AFLW has been filled with obstacle after obstacle, fighting with a host of injuries that threatened to derail the early days of her career. But in that time she has changed, she has evolved as a person and she hopes to inspire the next generation with her story. She may only be 19 but Hampson has already endured a rough ride to the top. In her first pre-season with the Suns she damaged ligaments in her ankle, however rebounded in quick time to make her debut four weeks later. In 2021 she has been largely in the same boat, nursing a stress fracture in her shin for the past year and contending with persistent soreness in her right foot. It has limited her ability to train at her peak, far from the dream start she had envisioned, but she said it has showcased how much the past year has taught her – lessons she hopes to bestow on the next crop of young talent. Those educational revelations have not only been in a physical, fitness sense but a psychological one. “This year I’ve started to really focus on my mindset and the mental health side of things,” Hampson said.
“Being a female athlete where you aren’t full-time it’s very hard and it takes a massive toll on your life and I think I’m just coping with growing up so fast, taking it all in and focusing on myself and mindset as early as I can. “I’ve seen some of my close friends having to retire very early because they haven’t been able to cope with it all. “This is a dream of mine, I really wouldn’t like it to go down that pathway, so just trying to make sure I’m keeping it all on the right track and making sure I don’t get lost in it all and still focus on myself and other aspects of life other than footy.” The trick for Hampson which has changed since her 2020 injury has been not fighting against the bad days – rather she is embracing them, accepting them, and realising she needs to go through them to truly appreciate the highs. Hampson admits consecutive pre-seasons hindered by injury have been a frustrating experience but the new outlook on life she has gained has made her oddly appreciative of the ordeal. In part it has been learning how crucial “the other 22 hours in the day are” away from the training paddock to ensure she is in peak physical condition. Already she has found herself a young prodigy to guide through the trials and tribulations of making it in the AFLW in fellow Townsville sensation Daisy D’Arcy. The teenager has begun her first year with the Suns and Hampson has seen her make an immediate impression. As an athlete who has not only gone through her fair share of personal struggles but is also representing North Queensland, Hampson feels she has an obligation to bestow whatever wisdom she can on her teammates – current and prospective. “I want to be someone who has experienced enough to help the girls coming through from now to the end of my career,” Hampson said. “You look at your Erin Phillipses and they’re just people who the young players aspire to be and I want to be like that one day and be able to share a lot of my leanings. “There are plenty of girls all over the shop who have had to move early and cope with a lot of things quite young, so I would love to be a platform someone can talk to about that kind of stuff when they have to go through it. "There’s not as much of a population up there (in North Queensland), sometimes you are alone when you’re a female athlete up there. “You learn so much going through these things and moving away from home and things like that on your own but it would be selfish not to share.” Should Hampson be fit to line up for the Gold Coast’s Round 1 clash against West Coast on January 30, her mentality will be a major driving force to fuel a breakout campaign. Eager to add to her six AFLW appearances, the defender said competition for spots was furious and a host of debuts could be on the cards, including for her hometown partner in crime, D’Arcy. “I think there’s definitely plenty of opportunities there for a lot of the girls to debut, the talent across the board is really level and it’s really high,” Hampson said. “I don’t think anybody is ruled out for a debut spot this year. Everybody is fighting for a spot, whether you’ve been there since the first year or started last year – all the girls are training insanely well. “I’ve learnt heaps, I think just the transition going from the under-18 programs to that level and really realising there is a massive jump there but understanding how much your mindset when you walk into the game affects it. “You can’t be psyching yourself out before you get out there, it is just another game of footy. “The quality is huge but everyone is there for a reason. We won’t get scared walking on the field, because I know every single one of those girls have my back.”
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