EAST Fremantle tall Anjelique Raison is an AFL Women’s draft hopeful for 2023, having forged a promising career over the last few seasons. Having represented not only her club at WAFL Women’s level, but also her state at national level, Raison is one to watch this year. Providing a special insight into her journey so far and looking ahead to 2023 where she is completing her last year of school and preparing for her top-age football season.

>> ANJELIQUE RAISON PLAYER DIARY PART 1

ANJELIQUE RAISON PLAYER DIARY: PART 2

Trying to combine footy and basketball has become part of my routine, but as I have gotten older and my commitments increase, it is getting to be a pretty tricky balancing act!

As a general rule, people in footy generally recognise the benefits of me playing basketball  and are happy to work with it, but for some reason it is harder to find people in basketball that see the benefits of me playing footy. I can honestly say that once I started playing League footy, my basketball improved a lot. Thankfully in the year I started playing senior footy, I had some great support from my basketball coaches at the time (thanks Neil Wright & Luke Sunderland!).  They recognised that because I was playing another sport at a high level, it didn’t mean I was less committed to basketball, it just meant we all needed to plan a bit better.  It would be great if that was what everyone thought, but unfortunately its not always the case.

As an example of how the two sports complement each other, is that once I started learning how to ruck, I needed to be able to jump off either foot and use either hand.  Practicing that really helped and gave me confidence in basketball when using my left hand to score around the ring.  On the flip side, being able to dribble with either hand in basketball has meant my handballing skills on either side have always been pretty solid.

I can say from experience that the time commitment and what I need to put my body through to play two sports is at times really challenging.  If I wasn’t committed or didn’t care about one of the sports much, then I can assure you that I wouldn’t do it!  To see AFLW players like Tessa Lavey and Mon Conti also playing WNBL is pretty cool, I would love to compare how they go about it and know if they have had the issues with one sport or the other not being accommodating.

Trying to manage both sports and work with coaches when I have training or game clashes isn’t always easy, but I just try to be as open as possible and give my coaches plenty of notice and opportunity to have input on my schedule.  Footy people have generally pretty understanding (East Freo and the state coaches have always been fantastic), but the clashes weren’t as well received by some at my former basketball club, so this year I have moved to be part of the Perth Redbacks NBL1 team. I was up front about the potential for clashes when speaking to Coach Fletcher before I moved and she said she was happy to work with me and sees the benefits of being a dual sport athlete which was great and I am really thankful for.

To juggle WAFLW, NBL1, plus State 18s I have set up a spreadsheet which maps out every commitment each day. At the start of each month, I send to all my coaches outlining any potential clashes and trainings I may need to miss for that month. It is something I started doing a couple of years ago and generally works well. Having said that it has been a bit frustrating this preseason with quite a few clashes, but thankfully they have now sorted themselves out. Now I can get to all trainings and it is more about managing loads and listening to my body when I start to feel sore or run down. 

I actually don’t like missing training because I have a clash.  Feeling part of the group is really important to me, and I hate missing out on the chats and jokes between drills and before and after training.  I’m a big believer in chemistry and have been in teams that were able to perform way above expectations just because we were a tight group and that made up for any talent we might not have had. I also think its important to recognise that you can have fun and work hard at the same time. One of my favourite coaches used to say “if its not fun, then what the hell are we here for?” It’s no surprise that he has been a pretty successful coach, and it is something I have taken with me as a player and also when I am coaching.

As the season gets closer, game fixtures are starting to come out now, so I always hold my breath and cross fingers for no clashes!  In between all of it, I am just starting Year 12, plus work as a basketball referee educator and am an assistant coach for a junior WABL team so there is a lot of juggling and time management, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!