By Sarah Burt
Ash Brazill recalls the memory vividly.
“I remember being a five-year-old kid playing with teddy bears and doing signatures pretending I’d just won a medal at the Commonwealth Games,” she said.
That memory would be etched in the dual-athlete’s mind for the better part of nearly three decades and would form the foundation of many sacrifices and tough decisions Brazill has made during her decorated career.
Including, perhaps her biggest decision yet, to step away from AFLW.
Earlier this year the 32-year-old held back tears as she told her Collingwood AFLW teammates she would be taking a break from footy to focus on making the Australian Diamonds team.
Ash Brazill says was essentially raised on the side of a netball court.“I really don’t want to let that little five-year-old girl down,” she told the Pies’ AFLW squad when she made the shock announcement.
Having juggled both elite AFL and netball since the inception of the AFLW competition, Brazill said she made the call to ensure she was in prime physical health ahead of Diamonds selection – having ruptured her ACL during the 2020 footy season.
A decision, which has paid off.
Brazill has booked her ticket to Birmingham, which was solidified after a phone call from head coach Stacey Marincovich last month, confirming her position on the Australian Diamonds team bound for the UK.
A little five-year-old girl’s dream was about to become a reality.
But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing.
RAISED ON THE COURT
Born and bred in the Wollondilly Shire, in NSW, a young Brazill would cram several games into a day before sticking around to watch her parents play their respective sports.
“I grew up on the side of the court,” she said.
When asked what of her favourite thing about the game, the answer came quickly.
“Netball at that time (during childhood) was a place where I didn't have to hide, I could be myself,” she said.
“As a young kid, and I feel bad saying it, I didn't want to be gay because it was so different… there were no role models out there, the only time you did hear about it was when someone was keeping it a secret.
“For an hour a week I could just be on court and not be afraid to be who I was and know that I wasn't getting judged on my sexuality but on my ability. For that one hour the entire world froze and I could just play netball.”
Brazill and her wife Brooke are proud mothers to Louis (two) and Franka (7 months). With Brooke also working full-time, it’s a juggling act to manage their careers while raising two kids but right now, Brazill wouldn’t have it any other way.
Ash Brazill had to make the tough call to step away from football. Photography: Erick Lucero“I don't honestly think I've ever enjoyed netball this much. I get to hang out with ten awesome girls. I love my coaches, I get to play netball for a living, and I get to come home and hang out with my two kids,” she said.
THE JUGGLING ACT
Brazill found footy when her family moved to the country when she was in grade two. And it wasn’t long before she “fell in love with the sport.”
“People are shocked that I played footy as a kid because all the other girls had to stop but I was allowed to keep playing because we kept appealing the decision and I was lucky enough that AFL NSW agreed to it. Every couple of weeks they’d come out and make sure I could still hold my own against the boys,” she said.
“In the end I was never told I couldn’t play, netball just took over, but I always wanted to play footy.”
Brazill’s juggling act began in 2017 when the AFL revealed its women’s competition would begin in February that - an announcement which would prompt Ash to move to Melbourne and find a new home at Collingwood where she joined both the AFLW and Super Netball sides.
“I remember having a chat with Stacey Marinkovich, my coach at the time and I said, ‘the Dockers have a footy team now, I could play for both them and (the West Coast) Fever.”
“She said, ‘over my dead body’.”
“A lot of people do think I moved to Collingwood to play both but in my mind, I wanted to grow as a netballer and see where I could take my game, but once I wasn’t making the Diamonds side and the opportunity for footy came up, I grabbed it with both hands.”
THE ROAD TO DIAMONDS
Brazill is no stranger to the heartbreak and sacrifices that come with being an elite sportswoman.
But as she reflects on her career, she acknowledges how the touch knocks plants seeds for growth.
“It's funny when people say, ‘what's been your biggest challenge in netball?’. They automatically assume it’s been coming back from my ACL injury but the toughest years I've had were the five years where I just couldn't break into that Diamonds team, let alone the squad,” she said.
“You're just waiting, hoping to get a call and then the call never comes and you're heartbroken again.”
As Brazill prepares to sign autographs in Birmingham, for real, she reflects on a sport which has allowed her to simply, “be me”.
“If you aren’t confident in who you are, you just wouldn’t be able to come out as gay in a world like this, but you also wouldn’t be able to make it in sport because you face so many setbacks and hurdles along the way,” she said.
ABOUT ASH
Name: Ash Brazill
Positions: WD, C
Nickname: Braz
Game day pump up song: Praying - Kesha
Game day breakfast: Big breakfast with eggs, bacon, avocado + flat white
