QUEEN OF THE COURT
Liz Cambage shares the advice that’s helped her stay at the top
At almost 28 years old, professional basketballer Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Cambage is embracing her body and mind for everything that it is. The new Bonds ambassador, DJ and Melbourne-raised athlete is in Las Vegas for the Women’s National Basketball Association season, playing for the Las Vegas Aces. In between juggling multiple – mind the pun – balls at once, she spoke to WHO about learning to love herself inside and out.
You’re a part of the Bonds Retro Rib campaign and the ‘Get Real’ messaging behind it. Why do you think it’s so important to embrace being different?
We live in a world where everyone is different in their own way, and for such a long time society, especially Australian society, has projected this very whitewashed, very blonde hair, blue eyes and Bondi Beach tan. I think I’m very lucky to be working with Bonds, especially in a campaign that celebrates individuality and is so diverse.
It’s a great group of women in the campaign. Had you met any of them before the shoot? No I hadn’t, but I’d seen a couple of them on Instagram modelling for other things and they were all so beautiful and stunning and I was like, “I’m not meant to be here, these girls are all such amazing models.” But as soon as we started shooting, they just made me feel right at home and they had a beautiful energy. Beautiful inside and out. What advice would you give to your younger self?
If I could go back, I would tell my younger self that all of the hard work really does pay off, all of those really tough moments in life make you stronger and if you keep pushing through, you’ll get there. And is that the advice that you’d give to young girls who want to get into professional sport?
I’d say just focus on yourself and push yourself to be the best you can be. Not to get caught up in what other girls and what other players are doing. It’s all about you, what you’re doing and the effort that you put into your career.
If you had three exercises to do on the go, what would they be?
Definitely squats. If I’m on the road and I just have a band in my bag I always do wide-stance squats. And I love a plank as it works my core; it’s good for tall girls, doing a plank, because it doesn’t put any pressure on your spine. My third exercise would be just getting up and moving around – going for a walk or a run. I go crazy if I don’t go for a walk or a run; I need to get my cardio these days, so I always try to start my day with some cardio.
On a very different note, how did you get into DJing?
I’ve always had a love for music – my mum was a dancer and my dad was a DJ – I was literally made/born in the club. I was raised on house music. I have friends that were like, “We need to hurry up and teach you how to DJ, because it’s getting ridiculous”. So it just grew from that.
What kind of music did your dad play?
I think it was lots of house and hip-hop. You’re opening for Snoop Dogg and Iggy Azalea soon – are you excited?
Yeah, it’s the WNBA All Star weekend, so it will be really fun. It’ll be fun to show everyone what I can do other than basketball. It’s a massive gig so it’s going to be pretty exciting.
Is there an artist you hope to open for one day?
There’s not anyone that I’m looking to work with; it’s more major festivals and taking my career to another level. Once I’m done with basketball, it’s something that I do want to focus on. Right now, I’m just taking it as it comes, but basketball is still my number one at the moment.
How do you keep your mental health in check?
I think, especially when I was younger and living overseas all alone, my mental health really did struggle. I think it’s important to find friends, or even a counsellor, someone you connect with and you can talk to. You need to find someone that can check on you to make sure you’re OK; it really helped me. But at the end of the day, if you’re feeling really bad, the best thing you can do is get professional help and see a counsellor.
That’s great advice. Is there one piece of advice you’ve been given in your life that you live by?
When I was a teenager, I had a coach who would always tell us “happy healthy, healthy happy”. If you’re feeling good, you’re happy, and when you’re happy and pretty healthy, you feel good. It’s all about looking after both your mental and physical health, because they’re both a balance. If one’s lacking, it’s going to bring you down, so it’s about making sure that you keep things balanced. It will keep you in a good state of mind.
“We live in a world where everyone is different” —Liz Cambage