If I wasn’t at the local park after school, you would either find me hooning around the streets of Kardinya on my BMX bike or kicking the footy and playing catch with my older brother, Nick, in the front yard – he’s pretty much the one who taught me to throw a ball.

Nick was a naturally gifted athlete so I emulated his sporting moves and techniques.

Growing up in Perth in the early ’90s was amazing; sun, sand and sport – I was born to be a West Coast Eagles AFL fan and I still follow them religiously to this day. I was also a massive tomboy so I remember dreaming of playing footy and Major League Baseball.

The thing I loved most about my childhood though, was having a no-fear attitude. I literally threw myself into a challenge without thinking about any of the potential outcomes – I think that’s where  I developed my determination and perseverance, very early on.

My affinity for never giving up came when I started playing sport in mixed boys teams.

I participated in athletics at school and outside of school,  I played mixed baseball, basketball and soccer.

I figured out pretty early on that I loved the feeling of competition in sport and no matter what, I wanted to win! 

I was still a pretty shy kid and disliked the limelight (still do to this day), even though I was aware I had some natural talent.

When I hit the age of 13, I really started to concentrate on my baseball and tried out for the West Australian Under 14’s State Team.

Back in the early 2000s, female presence in baseball teams was rare, and I remember copping a fair amount of flak from the opposing team’s parents.

At the time, I didn’t really seem to take much notice because I knew I was capable of holding my own with the boys, and honestly, that gave me the confidence to play my own game and just get on with it.

Looking back, perhaps those parents were just threatened that I was throwing the ball harder and hitting the ball further than their sons? Whatever the case was, I never dwelled on it, nor did it affect me in a negative way – if anything, it fuelled me to be better and taught me about acceptance.

I ended up being selected as the first girl ever in Western Australia to play in a WA State Baseball Team and I continued to hold my own for the next couple of years; along the way gaining more respect from all of the boys I was playing baseball with and against and I am thankful to my coach, Rod Drew, for taking a chance on me way back then.

Moments like that conditioned and hardened me to really believe in my abilities and that hard work ultimately paid off in the long run.

When I hit the age of 16 in 2005, I had accomplished everything I set out to achieve; represented and played baseball for WA and Australia.

Looking back now, I’m super proud to say that I set those goals early on and then achieved them at such a young age and this is what led me to begin my softball journey.

It was a journey that I honestly never expected to be on.

I will never forget the day I received a phone call from Kere ‘KJ’ Johansen who was the Western Australian Institute of Sport's (WAIS) softball coach at the time.

He offered me an opportunity to come down to a couple of sessions of softball training.

Naturally, I said yes as I saw this as an awesome opportunity to keep developing as an athlete and my brother had already been a part of the WAIS baseball squad for a period of time.

I immediately became immersed in the high-performance environment that I was apart of.

I remember thinking to myself, "Oh my gosh, this is what it feels like to be a part of a fully-fledged high-performance environment and community." 

After a couple of weeks training with the WAIS softball squad, I was completely hooked on having access to full-time gym coaching, training and everything else that being an elite athlete offered.

The girls quickly took me under their wings too, so I really felt like I was getting a taste of what I had always envisioned – to be a part of something bigger than myself, with a great group of friends who love doing what we’re good at.

I remember building a pretty phenomenal culture with those girls and we went on to do amazing things with our softball careers and in life. That’s the beauty of being a part of such a great group of inspiring people, you learn and grow together!

From securing a WAIS softball scholarship in 2006 to representing WA at the U19 Nationals to then being selected to represent Australia at the Women’s Junior World Championships in 2007 those were the most influential years of my life in terms of personal growth, internal belief, confidence and learning all about the impact of team culture.

My experiences as an elite athlete really set the foundations for what my life would look like for the next decade.

After winning bronze at the Junior Women’s World Championships in early 2007 I was given multiple opportunities to step up later that year and play with the senior women’s team “The Aussie Spirit”.

I will never forget receiving a text message from one of my idols, two-time Olympian, Tracey Mosely saying, “Hey Chelsea congratulations on your selection, looking forward to seeing you play.”

I always wondered, “How the heck did Trace get my number!?”

We have a great tradition with the Aussie Spirit, before your first game you receive your playing jersey and playing cap in a ceremony with the coaching staff and playing group.

On your cap, every player has their representative playing number printed on the side. So, the night before I was playing my first game, we had the ceremony.

I remember feeling nervous and a little overwhelmed because I was sitting in a room full of Olympic greats!

I was the 242nd player to don the Aussie Spirit uniform, but from that day on, I haven’t really looked back, only to occasionally think about those moments that have gotten me to where I am today. 

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Chelsea's Olympic Diaries, coming soon