How Anneli Maley balances sport and her well being

At the start of the season, NBL1 Media spoke with Anneli Maley about her love of her local club, the Eltham Wildcats, and her well-being. 

Related: Maley credits her Opals success to Eltham

Now a bronze medallist at the FIBA 3x3 World Cup, Maley’s meteoric rise from NBL1 player to WNBL MVP, was in part due to her supporting her mental health and making it a priority.

To Donate to Lifeline, Text GIVE, NBL1, or NBL to 0488 822 250 or donate online here.

One of Maley’s favourite activities is reading. Each week on her Instagram stories, you will likely see another haul of books she’s brought.

Maley said it helps her escape the day-to-day stresses of being an athlete. She only recently picked it up again after finishing her degree in graphic design and visual arts, being able to read something that wasn’t a textbook or an assignment helped her reignite her love of reading.

“Once I graduated, I said to myself that I wanted to read to enjoy it again. So I started reading again during the WNBL season. And I feel like since then, I haven't really stopped,” she said.

“Up until I went to Chicago (for the WNBA), I still worked as well. I had a job as well as playing basketball. When I just was playing basketball, I was able to read just for enjoyment, and because I liked it. Something that turned my brain off and then I got hooked. 

“Those are my things, I like painting, I like art, I like drawing. I love reading things that take your brain away from you know, the hustle and bustle and hectic life that is a professional athlete living and inserting myself into a sci-fi fantasy novel. I'm a sci-fi fantasy nerd, I like reading in a way that makes me feel like I'm not in this world anymore.” 

LISTEN TO MALEY’S PODCAST UNDER THE SURFACE HERE

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Anneli Maley (@annelimaley)

Through Maley’s podcast, she has been able to help normalise mental health issues for athletes and people in general. She explained that awareness around this topic is an important issue for her and the people in her life. 

“I actually think if anyone has ever played with me in the last few years, I'm very vocal about the medication that I do take, I'm medicated for anxiety and depression,” she explained.

“And you know, my medication has side effects. And some of those side effects are extreme brain fog, I forget where I put everything, and I forget where I parked my car every day. Like, there's, you know, there's some physical side effects that people don't talk about. 

“When I change my medication, I lose feeling in my hands, there are so many different layers that go into that. I treat the stuff that I go through with my mental illness as if it's just a part of my life. People take anti-inflammatories if they have a sore knee, people take Panadol when they have a headache, if someone rolls their ankle at practice – they tell everyone that they're not practising because they've rolled their ankle.

“I've had to sit out of practices because I wasn’t in the right mental space, and I didn’t want to injure myself, and maybe I have some stuff going on with my medication. So I need to sit out and that's the same as rolling an ankle, it's the same as like ‘I've got the flu’.”

Always rely on WNBL and Opals star Anneli Maley to drop video game numbers ?

2??1?? boards
1??9?? points
3?? steals

Watch #NBL1South via https://t.co/NEk1I7kIKG or the NBL1 App ? & ? pic.twitter.com/LIjl2VcGO8

— NBL1 (@NBL1) April 21, 2023

Maley explained the stigma around medication has been an issue in sports, but she believes that the results she’s producing on the court will help break down that barrier. 

“I don't really love the term mental illness, even though that is what it is, it is my mental health that I'm taking care of because I'm in a great space,” she said.

“I'm happy, I'm succeeding, and I'm playing for the Opals and a WNBL MVP and I got to go to the WNBA – and I am medicated for my depression.

“It doesn't make me any less of an athlete, It doesn't make me any less, It doesn't take away from my success. But it also shows that sometimes success is painted out to be this picture without struggles or without people going through things at the same time. Success isn't always pretty and perfect. It is what it is.

“And I think that if I can continue to normalise talking about things, especially on the medication forefront, because for whatever reason, in sport – that's super taboo. And I would like to continue those open conversations in that space for as long as I can, and hopefully, I get more of a platform.”