Titanic shift for Keefe

ASHLEIGH Keefe won’t let a demanding new interstate job stop her reaching a potential grand final in the Sapphire Series.

The 23-year-old will graduate with a masters of nutrition and dietetic practice on Saturday before immediately packing her bags for Sale, Victoria.

While landing the role of a clinical dietitian with Central Gippsland Health is a wonderful career move, the timing is terrible for her netball ambitions, forcing her to become a sporting equivalent of a FIFO worker.

Keefe is part of the Titans’ first foray into netball.

Her team is sitting second on the ladder after six wins from 10 games.

“We’re in a good spot to make finals,” she said.

“I’m definitely hoping to play out the season with the girls so there’ll be a few trips back to the Gold Coast in July.”

Before joining the Titans, she spent five years with the Bull Sharks perfecting her goal defence and goalkeeping skills. She admits it was hard to leave the club.

“I had some amazing years with Bond, “she said.

“But you have to make a change every now and then. You have to get outside your comfort zone.”

Keefe was fortunate to receive two ADCO sports excellence scholarships during her undergraduate and postgraduate studies. During her exercise and sports science degree, one class held by Associate Professor Greg Cox proved to be a turning point.

“I remember thinking this is amazing, I love this so much. Listening to his perspective on nutrition from a sport side of things. I just knew that was the path that I wanted to go down,” Keefe said.

Growing up playing netball, the importance of training was drummed into Keefe.

“But the role of diet to achieve optimum performance was never discussed. I started fuelling myself better for my training sessions and recovering better by making sure I was getting enough protein.”