AFLW Western Bulldogs player Brooke Lochland grew up near a skating rink and later on in her career, fell in love with being on the ice.
As a 16yr old, Brooke packed up her life and moved to Europe to pursue her dream to become an Olympian, where she spent 6 years overseas competing for a professional speedskating team and for Australia.
Brooke returned to Australia to be closer to family and spend time with her mum, who at the time was dealing with a serious cancer diagnosis. She was keen to play a team sport and had loved footy when she was young. Her individual sport ice skating is just you and the clock, and she wanted to be around a team sport and the support and energy you get from that.
Current Work:
Brooke has brought the physical and mental skills she learned living overseas and competing as an elite athlete into her AFLW life, which has earned her a club premiership, an All-Australian award, a club, and AFLW Leading Goalkicker award, and club Vice-Captain honours.
Brooke is extremely passionate about the next generation of female footballers and using her experiences to engage, educate and eliminate the barriers for others that she experienced in her football journey, which is the inspiration behind the recent launch of a girl's football academy - The Sarah Hosking X Brooke Lochland Academy.
With a background in the fitness industry, Brooke loves to inspire people to get moving and active has an ambition of one day opening her own gym. She is a keen learner and self-educator, always finding new things to develop knowledge and skills in, from listening to a variety of podcasts to working on her house and creating her new business. With an interest in leadership, Brooke is enjoying learning through the club and from the stories of other athletes and organizations she's met and discovering her own leadership style through these insights.
Talking Points
Leadership
Leadership
Self development
Self development
High performance
High performance
Mental health & resilience
Mental health & resilience
Health & fitness
Health & fitness