KERSHAW Stephanie Anna

General
FIRST KNEE INJURY
In November 2015, two months after her senior Australia debut, she tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee. She was out for 12 months, missing the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and the remainder of the 2016 season. "It happened in a training accident, where my ankle got hooked while I was moving forward, which was a pretty nasty way to do an ACL. I knew straight away that whatever I had done had to be bad, as it felt like my knee had popped out and did a 360-degree rotation. Before my scan came back, I tried to convince myself that I was being dramatic and that I would be fine, which looking back now, is quite funny because it felt like my knee wasn't attached to my shin. Deep down I was positive I wasn't going to be playing for a while, but sometimes it pays to have a bit of hope. When the news was confirmed, I was just devastated. There is no other way to describe the feeling I had, other than pure heartbreak. I remember trying not to cry because I didn't want the doctor to feel bad about telling me the diagnosis, but the tears were just falling from my face. It took me a while before I could call my parents and tell them the news because I just couldn't say it out loud myself." (olympics.com.au, 28 Dec 2020)

SECOND KNEE INJURY
After recovering from her 2015 knee injury, she played the 2017 and 2018 seasons, and won a silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, QLD, Australia. However, in training in January 2019, she tore the anterior cruciate ligament on her opposite side. "This was a crushing blow, because it would mean another 12-month rehabilitation, and I'd miss out on another Olympic Games. While I was rehabbing, the COVID-19 pandemic erupted, which was devastating for everyone, but there was one silver lining for me. Tokyo 2020 - which had now been moved to 2021 - was now in reach. They say there is a reason for everything, and having a long-term injury taught me a lot about myself, other people and life in general. Injuries teach you how important the people around you are. Having a support system that included my family, first and foremost, my close friends, my strength and conditioning coach and my psychologist was imperative and without them, I'm pretty sure I would have struggled far more. My two injuries also taught me that my sporting career has the potential to be fleeting. Having this in the back of my mind keeps me grateful that I get to make a career out of my passion, but it also challenges me to keep pushing the boundaries of what I'm capable of, as I want to milk as much as I can out of myself and my experiences as an elite athlete." (olympics.com.au, 31 Dec 2020)

EARLY DAYS
Her earliest memories of growing up mostly involve being part of Townsville's hockey community, of which her mother and father were prominent members. "Growing up as the youngest of three siblings in a hockey-mad family, picking up a stick was in my DNA. I grew up in Townsville, North Queensland, and a normal Saturday for my family would be watching my brother and sister play, while mum and dad armed me with a hockey stick and $5 so I could run wild around the hockey field, trying to emulate my siblings and buy as many lollies as I could at the canteen. Growing up in a small town, the hockey community was and is very family-friendly. Because mum and dad were so embedded in that community, I always had someone to look at for me at my club, Wests. Another upside of playing in a small town was I had the opportunity to play up in grades, with and against girls much older than me. This really helped me to grow my game early. I was a pretty shy kid, but when I was on the field, I felt comfortable and excited to be out there. I was also lucky that I had an older sister to keep an eye out for me." (olympics.com.au, 28 Dec 2020)