By Stephanie Smarrelli
The past few years have been nothing short of challenging for West Coast Fever goaler Sasha Glasgow.
In 2024, she took a leap of faith, moving across the country to join the Melbourne Mavericks.
The move was meant to be an exciting new beginning for Glasgow, but it became a period defined by injury.
A devastating setback delayed her Mavs debut but even once she hit the court something still felt off.
“I was desperate to get home,” Glasgow said.
“There's more to life for me than netball, I was really missing out on that when I was in Melbourne.
"I took for granted in Perth how much stability I had and how much I loved my life outside of netball, for me that trumped any feeling.
"When I'm thriving off the court, my netball speaks for itself.
“I really struggled finding that balance coming back last year.”
Glasgow's netball is at it's best when she's thriving off the court.
That realisation made her decision to return west a clear one but it’s not something she’s taken for granted.
“I'm lucky Fever gave me the opportunity to come back,” she said.
"I've got a lot of roots down in Perth; I created amazing friendships, my university’s here and I built a house.”
She still remembers how it felt when she first moved to Perth from Adelaide at the end of 2020.
"The second I came over I was loving it,” she said.
“I'm such a beach-goer, my parents joked they’d lost me to the west. Then they came over and saw how happy I was and they understood.
"They just knew I was meant to be in the west.”
It was Glasgow’s inner circle that helped her make the call to return to the state she now calls home.
"My family and all of my close friends knew how much I was struggling in Melbourne,” she said.
“I was incredibly homesick and didn't realise how much it was affecting me until I vocalised it early last season.
“My family said to me life's more important than netball, we know you want to play to keep your career going but if being in Perth is more important and that's how you feel we'll support you in any way we can to get you back in the green dress.
“They were my rocks through a pretty hard time."
A return to Fever was far from guaranteed but Glasgow knew she had to take the chance.
“I reached out to Fever through my manager,” she said.
"Fever had played amazing last year, so it was a ‘hope and see’ because they were solid through their entire attack end.
“I had to hold my breath and hope an opportunity would open.”
Another big drawcard for her return was reuniting with head coach Dan Ryan.
“Dan has this incredible way of getting the best netball out of me,” she said.
"The Fever standards and the professionalism of how we train are really ingrained in the nature of our training.
Glasgow's grateful for her return to the west.
“It's easy to say you should train how you want to play but for us that is the core of our entire program... Dan really hones in on that.”
She credits Ryan not only for his high-performance standards, but for the culture he has fostered within the club.
“He has this incredible ability to create a strong culture,” she said.
“We keep things in-house, we respect one another, we build this sisterhood with each other and that is really driven by the way that Dan wants to operate the club.
“No one's bigger than the team.
“He connects individually and knows me as a person inside and out, he makes that connection and really checks in and put resources around me to support me.”
Just as powerful as the club environment was the unwavering support of Fever fans.
“The Green Army, even when I wasn't playing for Fever were always really supportive,” she said.
“Some of the fans were the first people who messaged when they'd heard about my injury and even when I came back to play for the Mavs they were all rooting for me.
Glasgow is happy to be in front of the Green Army again.
“Everyone was like ‘It's good to have you back’ and that was so good for my wellbeing.
“I’m playing for more than myself in the green dress...I'm playing for thousands of people in the west.
“Perth's such a tight-knit community, people go out of their way to get to know you.”
That connection was never clearer than in one defining moment during her first game back in green.
"When I sunk that first Suncorp Super Shot, I knew I was meant to be here,” she said.
“It was a full circle moment.”
While happy to be back home, her time in Melbourne with a team still establishing itself did give her a fresh perspective.
“When I went to the Mavs, I hadn’t played for a two-club state before,” she said.
“I didn’t realise that while people might love netball there, a lot of them love the Vixens.
Glasgow felt at home again when she shot her first Suncorp Super Shot.
“Here in Perth, they all bleed green, I really feed off that energy.
“I missed having a whole collective state barracking for the one team, it really makes a difference.”
Back at Fever, Glasgow has re-joined a side that has faced its fair share of challenges, particularly with injuries this season.
But she believes the group’s depth has been years in the making and they’ve made the most of unfortunate circumstances.
"It was absolutely devastating for our group when those injuries occurred,” she said.
"When we're stepping out on game day, there's 10 of us named but you're playing for so much more than just those players.
“You're playing for the ones that wish that they could be out there and everyone's taken their opportunities.
“A lot of people in the league wrote us off pretty quickly but the depth in our program has been developing.”
She pointed to emerging players who have seized their moment.
Glasgow is excited by the team's depth.
"Zoe's been a product of the Fever environment for about four years,” she said.
“To see her step into her own and really own it has been amazing, that's trickled through with Caitlyn Brown and Sloan Burton as well.
“We really protect and nourish the players that are coming through because you want them to be SSN ready at any point if needed.”
She also highlighted the support she’s received from replacement player and netball icon Romelda Aiken-George.
"I still can't believe she's breaking records in her 19th season,” Glasgow said.
“She constantly talks about wanting to get better...the amount of feedback she's giving I’m absorbing it all like a sponge.
“She's also hilarious...there’s not a day I spend with her that I leave without at least two belly laughs.
“She is a barometer for our team’s vibes. “
This article has been brought to you by Suncorp. Suncorp’s mission is to help more women and girls stay in sport, while encouraging more Australians to back them every step of the way. And Suncorp knows this mission takes more than just the players. It takes a team.
