Goulding shocking herself with inspirational return

There's inspirational life stories and inspirational basketball stories, and Mary Goulding is every bit both and it's simply remarkable that not only is she back playing in NBL1 West at East Perth Eagles, but doing it at such a high level already.

If you watched Goulding play so far this season with the Eagles and watched her average 15 points and 10 rebounds while playing 28 minutes a game, and you didn't know her story, you would be excused for thinking she was the same player from 2021.

That's when Goulding last played at East Perth and was named to the All-NBL1 West team after putting up 23.4 points and 13.4 rebounds a game, and the New Zealand native has been a standout whether playing in the WNBL, other NBL1 teams, at home or a stint in Sweden.

However, this isn’t the same Goulding that was last at the Eagles in 2021. She's not the same person she was this time last year and that's what makes what she is doing all the more remarkable.

It's not hyperbole to say that Goulding is lucky to be alive, let alone back playing basketball. In May last year, she suffered a horrific car accident that left her fighting for her life and at that point, playing basketball took a backseat to just being able to get back living a somewhat normal life.

But if Goulding has ever been anything, it's the ultimate competitor and that goes beyond the basketball court, it extends to her life and if anyone was going to overcome her injuries, it was her.

That's why six months later, she was willing to set herself the goal of playing basketball again and potentially in less than a year after almost losing her life.

Every day continues to be a struggle for Goulding with the brain injury she is still dealing with, but that only makes what she is doing all the more incredible.

Sure, Goulding has to wear ear plugs when she plays. She has to wear headphones in warm ups and introductions. She might not be able to socialise just because she can't be around noise and doesn’t have the energy to keep being around groups of people.

And she needs sleep and rest, and lots of it. In a lot of ways, playing basketball at such a high level could be the worst thing for her body. But it's also the best thing and the fact that she keeps surprising herself with what she can do so soon, it has served as the very best medicine.

The remarkable level to be playing at

Goulding had no idea what sort of level she would be able to play at once she was back on the court this season with the Eagles. And really, it didn’t matter because it was such an accomplishment just to be out there.

But the fact that she's able to play as well as she has been including another 25 points and 16 rebounds last Saturday at Peter Campbell Basketball Arena against the Perry Lakes Hawks, it's shocking to herself in the best possible way.

"Are you kidding? Absolutely I'm in absolute shock with the way I've gone coming back so far," Goulding said.

"Even just with that first game, I think I cried five times that day just out of happiness and sheer disbelief that I had actually made it back to play.

"I described it similar to how you can prepare for someone close to you dying like a grandparent as they get older, but nothing quite prepares you for it actually happening.

"That's how it felt to be back playing, I had prepared as much as I could but I couldn’t really believe it would be a reality even with how hard I'd been working the past 10 months.

"Never in my life had I trained so hard, but until that day of the first game nothing quite prepared me for that moment of being back on the court. I'm astounded by my performance to be honest, I had no idea how I would be able to play, and was just happy to be able to run out there."

Recovery process still on-going

If you watch Goulding play, there are signs of the brain injury she is still recovering from. She might get more tired than she once did, you can see the ear plugs if you look closely enough and can see the headphones pre-game.

You'll see her sneak out quickly get home to bed after games and practice too, but that's only if you are really looking.

If you just watch Goulding play and you would never know what it's taken over the past 11 months to get back to this point, and what she is still going through every day to continue the recovery process while being back playing basketball.

"In the warm ups they often play the music a bit louder so I wear the noise cancelling headphones as well as the ear plugs otherwise it drains my energy quicker with the loud noise," Goulding said.

"Then during the game I still play with the ear plugs in because I'm still very sensitive to noise and my doctors say that's expected with this sort of brain injury. Then I also fatigue so much quicker than I used to which is very frustrating.

"To begin with I didn’t know how much the brain injury would affect me and I wasn’t sure how quickly it would heal, but in the last few weeks I've come to the awareness and acceptance that I do have a brain injury.

"It's still not going to stop me working on my conditioning, but it's not as simple as it used to be and no matter what condition I'm in, because of my brain I will fatigue a lot quicker.

"This is something I can't control, when I fatigue it's not because of my body or lack of effort, it's because my brain has had enough."

What Goulding has learned through both what her doctors have told her and what her body is demanding with the on-going brain injury recovery is that nothing will help the process more than sleeping.

That will help the injury heal, but also allow her to be able to function as a person and a basketball player when she's awake.

It's not always easy and it takes a lot of self-control to resist pushing too hard, but at the same time Goulding knows when her body's had enough then it's time to pull back and get the rest she needs.

"It also means that I'm sleeping at least 10 hours every night on top of sleeping during the day as well just to be able to get through because my body needs a recharge," Goulding said.

"You can say I sleep about half the day in total and I do still get headaches that can be quite severe. I can usually manage them quite well and they usually come when I'm overstimulated, so if I sense it coming and can relax they usually go away.

"That's also meant I'm not overly social right now just because I don't have the energy to do anything else beyond training and playing right now, and I need to be sleeping or resting in between.

"If i do see a friend or anything, it's usually just one-on-one and only for a little while just because being in a big group or a loud setting it drains me too much.

"Some days are better than others, and some of them can be frustrating when I get more tired by doing the exact same thing. But it's a lot of self-management and self-awareness, and really just a process of being patient. There's nothing I can do but just wait and let my brain heal itself over time."

Decision to return and to do it in Perth

Once Goulding started to feel well enough again late last year to consider playing basketball again, the surprises started to come when the calls came in from clubs reaching out to see if there was the potential of signing her to play in 2024.

That actually helped in Goulding's drive to recover because she felt that support from the basketball community that they had the faith in her and wanted her back playing.

"Surprisingly I did have a few offers from different clubs which did surprise me to be honest because of the severity of what I'd gone through," Goulding said.

"The fact that teams were still willing to recruit me while I was still in the recovering process shocked me and I was still recovering, and still am, and I was honest about where I was at with that.

"The fact that clubs were talking to me from as early as October just to see if there was any possibility and that was only five months after the accident.

"Then over the next few months I would just keep in touch with how I was trending and what the doctors were thinking, but to be honest there was a lot of unknowns if I would be able to play again.

"The biggest thing was in January that I realised it was very possible that the goal of playing was attainable."

Once Goulding knew that not only was it possible to play again, she started to think about where it would be that would provide the best environment basketball wise and lifestyle wise to continue her recovery.

"That's when it became time to actually decide where I'd want to play. That's when I decided that i had to be comfortable where I was going because my recovery is still on-going," she said.

"So the priority was going somewhere I knew the team and the club would support me as I try to make this comeback while recovering, and not have expectations that I would be the same player that I was. I needed to trust I would have that support however long it takes or however it looks."

Goulding's mind kept coming back to the lifestyle of living in Western Australia and then also how much she enjoyed her 2021 stint at the East Perth Eagles.

She had always wanted to come back to Perth to live at some stage and also to play at the Eagles again. So when she was weighing all that up and East Perth in turn wanted her back, it soon became an easy decision.

"East Perth had wanted to bring me back since I played that first year and have stayed in touch throughout my whole recovery after the accident so that was something that meant a lot to me," Goulding said.

"I had enjoyed my time here the last time and I knew the club even though the team has changed a whole lot, which is a bit sad because I loved that team, but I did know some of those girls I got close with are still in Perth, just on different teams.

"So I knew I'd still be able to hang out with those girls and I knew that East Perth as a club would have my best interests at heart, and that made the decision easy because I'd be supported and have those friendships to reconnect with.

"My recovery comes first ahead of basketball so part of that is being happy and supported off-court so I knew that with my friends in Perth it would be a good place for me along with the support of my club.

"I love Perth too with the weather and lifestyle so that's why I chose this over some clubs over on the east coast closer to New Zealand. I was very excited to come back here so that really sold it for me."

Happily living and playing so far from home

On the surface, coming to Perth and being so far away from her family back home in Rangiora, near Christchurch, who had played such a significant part in her recovery might seem a strange one, but not for Goulding.

She will always be thankful to the support her family gave her during the recovery, but she just knew first of all that playing NBL1 was what she wanted to do, and living in WA and playing at the Eagles were her best options in so many ways.

"To be honest and maybe it's naïve of me, but no, I was never concerned about being so far from my family," Goulding said.

"I absolutely love them and they have been incredibly instrumental to my recovery without a doubt, but they've also been so supportive of me getting back to basketball. The whole time when I was recovering, we all knew that I wanted to get back to playing basketball.

"Nobody knew when that would be or what would be possible, but that was such a motivating factor and there's no league going on in New Zealand right now. That doesn’t start until later in the year so NBL1 was always going to be the best option for me and that's what I was aiming for with my return.

"I didn’t want to settle, I wanted to push myself to play NBL1 again and I've always had the best experiences in the league so that was a big part of my signing at East Perth because I wanted to enjoy basketball.

"I am grateful to be able to play again, so I just want to enjoy it now, and I knew NBL1 would tick all those boxes for me more than playing anywhere else."

Challenge of double-headers to come

The challenges do continue to come every day for Goulding and while the schedule is currently kind for the Eagles with single game weekends for the next three weeks, the double-headers will eventually come.

Given how difficult Goulding has found getting up and about the day after games so far, she knows that is going to be another challenge, but the way she did handle it so well back in Round 2 is yet another thing that has seen her body surprise herself.

"We did have one double-header back in the second week and I was very, very nervous for that," Goulding said.

"I talked to my coach about it and he said we might limit my minutes in the first game, and try to let me sit out the second half so I might even be able to leave to get away from the noise and get ready for the Saturday.

"But basketball being basketball and plans don't always fall into place, and I ended up playing 25 or 26 minutes in the first game. I was totally fine with that obviously because I want to help my team and I just got to bed as soon as I could, and luckily I was able to have a good sleep.

"Of course, the next day I was tired but adrenaline is an amazing thing and once I was back on court, I got through it OK. I was very tired, but I was just so proud of the fact that I got through that double-header.

"It was another surprise for myself and I couldn’t believe how well I got through it, and that I survive. I'm glad we haven’t had one since and I need time to properly get into it, but it has given me confidence for the next time that we do have them because my body somehow can handle it."