On July 1st 2015, Shenae Ciesiolka’s life changed forever, as she signed a professional contract with the Qantas Australian Women's Sevens squad.
Ciesiolka had to make sacrifices, including leaving behind her family and friends to pursue her dreams in Sydney.
Being just 17 years old at the time and coming straight out of high school Ciesiolka knew there were going to be some challenges along the way, but this was an opportunity she simply couldn't pass up.
“The most challenging part has definitely been moving away from home. It hasn’t been easy but down here you are forever around the Rugby girls so they become your family. I know Rugby is what I want to do so I have to make some sacrifices to pursue my dream.” Ciesiolka said.
Coming from a small town like Toowoomba, Ciesiolka traded the country lifestyle for city living and since then, she has had to learn to adapt.
However this is one thing she loves about Sydney.
“Sydney is a great new experience. It’s definitely a different environment coming from Toowoomba but I love it. I love the beach, so being so close to it and having the opportunity to go for a swim before or after training is awesome,” Ciesiolka said.
As you can expect the training schedule is pretty full on for the Australian Women’s Sevens squad. Ciesiolka’s weekly training schedule entails a full day of Rugby training on Mondays (from around 8am to 4pm);gym on Tuesdays; full day of training on Wednesdays; Thursdays off and a full day of training on Fridays.
“While training is challenging, I always remind myself that if it’s not challenging, we aren’t getting any better.
“At training we are always pushed to our limits and challenged to be the best we can be and I think that is the only way you can improve. I just have to push through the pain and remember my end goal and why I am here.” Ciesiolka said.
It’s this mentality that has gotten Ciesiolka to where she is. Since signing with the squad last July, Ciesiolka has made her Australian debut, competing in the Canada leg of the HSBC World Sevens Women’s Series in April this year.
“You need to be mentally prepared to wait for your time to come because when it does it is so rewarding. It was amazing to get the chance to make my debut in Canada. It’s good to know that my hard work has been recognised and that it all pays off in the end,” Ciesiolka said.
Throughout the past year, Ciesiolka says she continues to learn more and more each day at training and knows that she is only going to keep improving.
“Being one of the younger ones in the squad you learn so much, training with more experienced players. Each training session I'm learning and that’s one of the positives of being in the squad, you are training with the best squad in the world and therefore some of the best players,” Ciesiolka said.
Even though she did not play in the last leg of the HSBC World Sevens Women’s Series in France when Australia won the series, Ciesiolka said this is one of her most memorable experiences over the past year.
“To know that I was a part of the squad that won the series was an amazing experience and definitely one I will never forget.
“I also think the Sydney Sevens tournament is another memorable experience over the past year. We played in front of family and friends, which is different from any other tournament. To have your friends and family come and watch is awesome and so encouraging, just makes you want to do even better,” Ciesiolka said.
Ciesiolka is now working hard to conquer her next goal.
With the 2016 Rio Olympic Games team selection coming up in the next couple of weeks, she is putting that aside and focusing her attention on the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
“I’m still so young so being realistic, I’m more focused on the next Olympic Games rather than Rio. By then I’ll be older and have more experience and feel it will definitely be my time.
“My goals for next year are to play more regularly in the HSBC World series and work hard to make the 2018 Commonwealth Games team,” Ciesiolka said.
