Kelcie Mitchell
Physio
BSc PHTY (HONs)
APA: Animal
Main interests: equestrian, gymnastics, cheerleading, figure skating, and many other sports.
Kelcie has competed in horse riding, mainly eventing, showing and games form a young age and has competed in many different individual and team sports from state to international level.
It is due to this she has developed a key interest in helping athletes across a range of sports.
Kelcie currently participates in general gym weight lifting and running, and is keen to return to horse riding very soon. She has been involved in eventing from a young age and is currently undertaking a Masters in Equine Science.
Kelcie is passionate about all sports and participation across all ages. Having competed in horse riding, figure skating and cheerleading she has had her own fair share of injuries and understands heart break when something about them goes wrong. She understands returning to your sport and maintain your capacity through other avenues in the event of injury.
Kelcie’s story:
I was born and grew up in Tasmania around Hobart. I lived there until I was 17 and then moved to south west Victoria with my horse and myself to go for my Advanced Diploma in Equine Management and Diploma of Agriculture.
For being the youngest of two by four years, I was the shyer one, but the one who was always doing sport. I grew up in sports, I’ve always just loved to participate and play. Surf life saving, netball,
Hockey, tennis, cross country, athletics, swimming, to think of a few. I’ve been in state levels for athletics, swimming and games riding, nationals for eventing and figure skating and represented Australia in cheerleading. My only excuse being, I was a restless kid, my parents needed me to do something.
Horses have always been my passion, eventing is my sport and there is nothing quite like it. For a while after my advanced Diploma, I worked in an Olympic stable as a working student and learnt a lot. I’m thankful for my time there, it taught me a lot about myself and about riding and the people there are amazing, I’m thankful for the opportunity it gave me and the path it directed me on. One of the people I met there was actually the person who convinced me I needed to go back to school, and that’s what led me to Physiotherapy.
I started in animal science and technology, in Melbourne. It was a hard time for me, I had to give up my horses, keeping them where I was studying wasn’t possible. Not long after I met my now husband, I ended up transferring to UQ but there was still not something quite right, I was still involved in being active and sports had become a real interest to me, more so then and it was what made me move into Physiotherapy.
Through my degree I worked in sports retail. Later on I also started working for a local div2 local AFL team as a sports trainer for the senior and reserve teams which was a great experience as the boys taught me the game, distraught it was one of the sports I knew next to nothing about and I guess wanting me to be comfortable as the lone female official in the group.
In my first year of physio, I married my husband and then halfway through my second year, we welcomed our first daughter into the world, two weeks before exams and two weeks after we moved into our first home. Charlotte is now four and is a complete firecracker of confidence and has my passion for sports, running, soccer, tennis, horse riding, swimming, she’s just as energetic but a lot more confident than me at that age. Then in my final year, (placement year) I fell pregnant with our second little girl, Natalie who’s just about to turn one. The girls are our little joys, we love camping, beach trips for surfing and days filled with activities with them including Saturday gymnastics, Sunday swimming and horse riding lessons we’re usually pretty busy.
I’ve been high interested in Sports Physiotherapy since I started my degree and am currently studying a Masters in Equine Science so I can work with my favourite sport more effectively.