Jacinda Barclay facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Jacinda Barclay |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
Barclay playing for Greater Western Sydney in 2018
|
|||
| Personal information | |||
| Date of birth | 18 February 1991 | ||
| Date of death | 12 October 2020 (aged 29) | ||
| Place of death | Chidlow, Western Australia | ||
| Original team | Swan Districts (WAWFL) | ||
| Draft | No. 65, 2016 national draft | ||
| Debut | Round 1, 2017, Greater Western Sydney v. Adelaide, at Thebarton Oval |
||
| Position(s) | Utility | ||
Jacinda Barclay (born 18 February 1991 – died 12 October 2020) was an amazing Australian sportswoman. She was known for playing three different sports at a very high level. These sports were baseball, American football, and Australian rules football.
Jacinda played for the Australian national team (called the Emeralds) in five World Cups. She also played professional American football for the Chicago Bliss and Australian rules football for Greater Western Sydney in the AFL Women's (AFLW) league. Because she was so good at many sports, a newspaper called her "the Sonny Bill Williams of women's sport" in 2016.
Contents
Early Life and Beginnings in Sport
Jacinda Barclay was born on 18 February 1991. Her parents were from New Zealand. She grew up in a country area called Chidlow, in Western Australia. She went to La Salle College.
Jacinda started playing Australian rules football when she was 12 years old. But as a teenager, she decided to focus more on baseball.
Jacinda's Sporting Career
Baseball Journey
When Jacinda was younger, she played baseball on boys' teams. She was a right-arm pitcher, which means she threw the ball to the batter. At 15, she played for her home state, Western Australia, in the national championships. The very next year, she was chosen for the Australian national team!
Jacinda played for the Australian national team (the Emeralds) in the 2008 World Cup in Japan when she was just 17. She won a silver medal at the 2010 World Cup in Venezuela. She also played in three more World Cups in 2012, 2014, and 2016.
American Football Adventures
Jacinda started playing American football in 2012 when she was living in Chicago. At first, it was hard for her to get a contract in the Legends Football League because of her visa.
Later, Jacinda joined the New South Wales Surge team for the first season of LFL Australia in 2013–14. She played as a quarterback, which is a very important position. She led her team to win the championship and was named the best offensive player in the league! In 2016, the Chicago Bliss team from the main LFL competition in the United States noticed her talent. She joined them and won a championship in her very first season.
Australian Rules Football Comeback
Jacinda had played Australian football when she was 12, but she stopped to focus on baseball. She later returned to the sport. She played for amateur teams like Swan Districts and the UNSW Eastern Suburbs Stingrays.
Jacinda also represented both Western Australia and NSW/ACT in the AFL Women's National Championship. She was chosen by Greater Western Sydney as the 65th player in the 2016 AFL Women's draft. She played her first senior game for the club in the first round of the 2017 season. This game was against Adelaide at Thebarton Oval.
After playing six games in 2017, Jacinda signed to play for Greater Western Sydney again for the 2018 season.
Life and Legacy
In 2016, Jacinda Barclay worked in the professional diving industry. She also hoped to become a sports psychologist, helping athletes with their mental game.
Jacinda passed away on 12 October 2020. She was the first sportswoman in Australia who played contact sports to donate her brain to the Australian Sports Brain Bank. This donation helped researchers learn more about brain health in athletes. Jacinda was remembered as a strong and determined person in women's sports. She cared a lot about making sports fair for women.
See also
- List of players who have converted from one football code to another
