KELLOND-KNIGHT Elise

General
CLUB JOURNEY
She began her professional career with Australian side Brisbane Roar, making her debut in the 2008/09 W-League season. While at the club, she had loan spells at Danish team Fortuna Hjorring and Japanese side Iga FC Kunoichi, before she transferred to FFC Turbine Potsdam in the German Frauen-Bundesliga in 2015. She moved to Sweden in April 2018, signing with Hammarby, before returning to the W-League in October 2018 on a short-term deal with Melbourne City. She joined Seattle Reign FC in the United States of America for the 2019 National Women's Soccer League [NWSL] season, but was traded to the Washington Spirit mid-season. She returned to the Brisbane Roar for the 2019/20 W-League season, and then signed with Kristianstads DFF in March 2020. After one year at the club, she re-joined Hammarby in April 2021. (theroar.com.au, 19 May 2015; melbournecityfc, 09 Oct 2018; washingtonspirit.com, 15 Jul 2019, brisbaneroar.com.au, 26 Oct 2019; matildas.com.au, 01 Mar 2020; LinkedIn profile, 11 Mar 2021; hammarbyfotboll.se, 01 Apr 2021)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
She has served as a member of the FIFPro Global Players Council, the Australian Professional Footballers Association Executive Committee, and Football Australia's Women's Football Council. "They're all volunteer roles and they take a tonne of my time, but they've been super rewarding. Because I'm a player that has been a part of the really steep progression of female football, I think I have pretty valuable insights into what has happened over the last 10 years. It's about making and ensuring that growth is continued. I just want to make sure the game is in a better state than when I entered it because it was never really a possible dream at that point. And now I think it is a dream and I just want to keep giving it that push up the hill. [I want] to be in that position where I can be one of the leaders to help push the game in the direction that we want." (beyond90.com.au, 25 Sep 2020; LinkedIn profile, 11 Mar 2021)

FURTHER STUDIES
After graduating from Griffith University with a bachelor's degree in pharmaceutical science in 2012, she completed a diploma in business, business administration and management at Martin College in Brisbane, QLD, Australia, in 2016. In August 2020 she began studying for a master's degree in business administration at Griffith University in Australia. She began the course remotely from Sweden after injuring her knee in July 2020. "Within a week [of getting injured] I was enrolled back at university. I'd been thinking about doing it for the last nine months. Just really thinking about transition and what I wanted to do and where I could see myself after football. It finally gives me that balance and purpose because when you take football away and you're not training every day, you're not feeling like you're achieving. For me, it was finding that purpose again." (beyond90.com.au, 25 Sep 2020; LinkedIn profile, 11 Mar 2021)