I was definitely one of those people who thought to myself, “The dream is over for now,” and even though something inside of me remained hopeful that maybe one-day softball would be re-instated into the Olympic Programme, the thought of me playing at an Olympics became much of an afterthought. 

After softball’s exit in 2008, I knew I still had my whole life ahead of me, so I remained focused on staying in the moment with the desire and passion to be the best person I could be, on and off the softball diamond.

I ended up relocating from Perth to Brisbane in 2009 and that is when I believe my softball career really started to take off.

Brisbane was home to some of the best softball players in Australia.

The Brisbane league was extremely competitive, with a flurry of current and ex Aussie Spirit girls playing.

I was playing alongside the best pitchers and the best hitters, I was in my element. Learning from the best, watching how they played and studying them without even realising it.

My competitive nature and willingness to learn elevated my game in Brisbane but the move also taught me some great life lessons and certainly helped shape who I am today.

From my very first game with the Aussie Spirit back in 2007 to today, I have been grateful enough to play over 160 games for our great country.

I am proud to say I have travelled the world as an Australian female athlete representing our country with pride, and it’s been the greatest honour and privilege of my life.

Softball has afforded me with the tools to exceed and want to excel in life, the challenges faced and the lessons learned in the sport have always translated into real life for me. Playing at the elite level has made me stronger. The game has instilled persistence, hard work and resilience into who I am, at my core and I have a great sense of pride about that.

I continued to play with just as much love and passion as I always had, regardless of whether or not my Olympic dream would be realised, but, in August of 2016, we got the news we thought we'd never hear. The International Olympic Committee approved the return of softball to the Olympic program for Tokyo 2020.

I remember being overseas in the United States at the time of the announcement, as I was playing in my first season of professional softball for the Dallas Charge in the National Pro Fastpitch League.

My American teammates and I celebrated the fact that the dream was real again, Olympic softball was back. I was overjoyed with pure excitement but also, a sense of relief.

From that day on, the dream was reality, however, we weren't being offered a free ticket to Japan. The things you want most in life are never just handed to you, you must earn them and only six teams would qualify for the Games.

This meant our last hurdle to secure an Olympic softball return for Australia, was to win the 2019 Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualifying event... but that is exactly what we did.

We won all six games, and if I am being completely honest, it was some of the best softball I have ever been a part of.

As a team, we completely dominated and played out of our skin. Everything just fell into place at the right time.

The reason we won that event came down to our impeccable preparation, the planning and our belief in the processes which we had created as a team unit. You couldn’t have scripted it any better.

I vividly remember running and jumping into the dog pile after convincingly beating China to seal our Olympic rebirth, it felt like everything was in slow motion as I embraced my teammates.

It’s an indescribable feeling that came over me, it’s as if it attached itself to me. I could sense that all the girls felt the same, as we were jumping up and down with tears, joy and pride.

The dream of one day playing with the Aussie Spirit at an Olympics was no longer just an imaginary wish, it was suddenly brought to life!

Stayed tuned for Part 3 of Chelsea's Olympic Diaries, coming soon