Team Girls Talk Series

Rosie Malone: I'm Rosie Malone and I’m an Olympic hockey player

Melissa Wu: I'm Melissa Wu and I’m an Olympic diver

Robyn Lambird My name is Robyn Lambird and I’m a Paralympic wheelchair sprinter

Georgia Nesbitt I’m Georgia Nesbitt and I started rowing in Hobart

Rosie Malone My mum was amazing for me and all my siblings growing up from a young age the thing that I picture is us waking up at six o'clock in the morning at our house in the Gold Coast hinterland and having to pack all of our school bags lunches all of our sporting gear

Robyn Lambird: I’d say the parents of athletes play a huge role in the journey. My dad's been a huge part of my athletic journey. He's an ex-athlete, a professional MMA fighter.

Melissa Wu My parents made a lot of commitments to be able to get me to an elite level in diving as a young kid they did countless hours of driving so I could be at all my training sessions

Rosie Malone My grandma would always be cooking caramel slices and coconut ices and you know she'd be like 85 and in the kitchen she'd do it so that we could you know sell them in raffles or take them around to people at sport every week. My grandma I guess understood that my mum had to sacrifice so much and i think she wanted to support my Mum and my family in any way that she could I’m so grateful that I had both her and my mum as people supporting me and role models in my life

Melissa Wu Not only my parents but my whole family sacrificed a lot for me to have the opportunity to be able to pursue my diving dreams.

Robyn Lambird My dad and a few of the members of this gym did 100 rounds of boxing, you know two to three minute rounds sparring to get me to the Swiss championships where I was able to qualify for the world championships so to have that support of a gym and to have the support of my dad to help fund those things so I could qualify for the World Championships was massive

Robyn Lambird: My name is Robyn Lambird and I’m a Paralympic wheelchair sprinter

Melissa Wu: I'm Melissa Wu and I’m an Olympic diver

Rosie Malone: I'm Rosie Malone and I’m an Olympic hockey player

Georgia Nesbitt: I’m Georgia Nesbitt and I started rowing in Hobart

Rosie Malone: I think it's really hard for young girls especially through their teenage years and when it comes to deciding whether to drop out of sport or not because there's i guess so many different stereotypes for girls and also you know they feel a lot of pressure to be and act and look a certain way

Georgia Nesbitt: I would tell girls that sport is cool and it's fun don't worry about what your friends think. I think when I was at school a lot of people thought sport wasn't cool. Don't worry about what everyone else thinks or what everyone else does

Robyn Lambird: I think for girls to stay involved in sport you really need to find something that you're passionate about something that you enjoy

Melissa Wu: I will tell girls in sport that there's a lot of value in being involved not only as an athlete but also as a coach or a volunteer. I'm super excited about the next generation of divers and looking forward to seeing what they can achieve

Rosie Malone: I guess I just tell those young girls I’d first of all ask them you know what's the reason that you want to drop out and then from there I would just ask them you know do you think it's worth dropping out of sport for that reason and potentially missing out on all these amazing opportunities that you have right now and why you love playing it so whether it's your friends or whether it's the social life or the challenges that you have every day and I’d yeah remind them that I think one of the best parties I’ve ever been to was the junior world cup hockey after party

Melissa Wu: So, I would tell my younger self to just live in the moment

Robyn Lambird: To my younger self I think I would say try not to focus too much on the results and enjoy the process

Georgia Nesbitt: If I could send myself my younger self a message it would be that you're doing a great job and keep going

Melissa Wu: I'm Melissa Wu and I’m an Olympic diver

Rosie Malone: I'm Rosie Malone and I’m an Olympic hockey player

Robyn Lambird: My name is Robyn Lambird and I’m a Paralympic wheelchair sprinter

Georgia Nesbitt: I’m Georgia Nesbitt and I started rowing in Hobart

Georgia Nesbitt: I think you just put so much pressure on yourself because you put so much energy into chasing this outcome and this goal and when it doesn't happen it just all hits and you're like oh my god what has happened to me

Robyn Lambird: Yeah, I’ve definitely wanted to give up before um being an early athlete isn't an easy thing and I think anyone that says they've never considered giving up would be lying to be honest

Georgia Nesbitt: I think when the results aren't coming, and people just see you giving up all this time and grinding away they're like what is she doing

Melissa Wu: The toughest moment that I faced is definitely losing my sister seven years ago. That's been something that's been really tough not only for me but my for my family as well and it's something that never goes away you just I think learn how to live with it made me really value the things that are important in my life and I guess I just learned how to make every day count

Robyn Lambird: I think it is the community that keeps you going and it's also just trying to remember why you started and what it was that you found fun about the spot in the first place

Georgia Nesbitt: So, I think you really need to have a strong sense of sort of self belief and determination to keep going at the end of the day you learn that there's so many other setbacks along the way and it's really how much you can bounce back because they sort of say the bigger the setback the bigger the comeback

Rosie Malone For me I just had this quote that I remind myself of as play for that 12-year-old girl she just loved being with her friends, loved having fun love the challenge of playing hockey in different sports every day and so that's definitely what keeps me going

Melissa Wu: I'm Melissa Wu and I’m an Olympic diver

Robyn Lambird: My name is Robyn Lambird and I’m a Paralympic wheelchair sprinter

Rosie Malone: I'm Rosie Malone and I’m an Olympic hockey player

Georgia Nesbitt: I’m Georgia Nesbitt and I started rowing in Hobart

Robyn Lambird: I started athletics through Accommodate and the lady that was there running that program was a volunteer and she's still my coach today

Georgia Nesbitt: When I think of community and rowing i do think of my rowing club where I started rowing, just because it's such a small local club that is supported by essentially the community down there volunteers people who are willing to give and help others

Rosie Malone: I first started playing hockey as a six-year-old here on the Gold Coast for Burleigh they were my hockey club. We're a sport that doesn't have a lot of funding or money behind it so we do rely heavily on support from volunteers whether it's you know older athletes volunteering their time or parents volunteering their time

Melissa Wu: Volunteers are super important in diving because we're not a huge sport we're a small sport and we really rely on the help of people giving their time

Robyn Lambird: I think the most important thing about athletics is the community it's what keeps you involved and I don't think we'd be able to do what we do without that community, without the help of volunteers, without the help of you know that wide group of people that really support you in that journey

Rosie Malone: The most important thing about sport to me that's a tough question because I feel like sport is such a big part of my life but I guess for me sport growing up the biggest thing has been the relationships and friendships that I have in sport I’m still such good friends with all the girls and coaches that i grew up playing with

Melissa Wu: I've made a lot of friends in diving not just in Australia but a lot of my friends are actually my competitors from other countries

Robyn Lambird: You know there's a couple of people that I see day-to-day on the track that have been at a Paralympic games with me that have roomed with me and we've experienced so much together.

Melissa Wu: I was lucky that I had that from a really young age and we developed really strong friendships with a lot in common and I think that their friendships are also carry on uh once we finish diving as well

Robyn Lambird: And I think again it's just one of those those reasons that you stay involved because you know you want to share that journey with those people