Not long after receiving some deflating injury news, Ava Bishop is in good spirits and eager to start the recovery process.
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The 20-year-old will miss the remainder of the netball and basketball seasons after it was confirmed she snapped her ACL playing for the Warrnambool Mermaids in their Big V basketball loss to Bellarine on July 14.
Bishop, also member of Warrnambool's open-grade Hampden league netball side, will have surgery in two weeks time.
"I just want to get the surgery done so I can just start the recovery process really," she told The Standard.
The recovery time for an ACL tear is typically up to a year post surgery.
Bishop understands she realistically may not return until the 2026 campaign due to how late this season the injury has occurred.
She won't be lost to either game in that time however and plans to keep supporting her sides this year and stay involved in 2025.
"Even just speaking with my netball and basketball coaches, they're already just thinking of ways they can get me involved for next season when I'm sidelined," she said.
"(I'm) never not learning even when I'm not playing.
"I'm always learning different things that can help me with my game whether I'm playing or not."
Bishop conceded the injury news was "extremely disappointing", especially since she felt she was in the midst of break-out years in both sports.
"I felt like I'd really been given an opportunity and showed my abilities more," she said.
"Getting put up into the open team for Warrnambool and sort of cementing my spot there and gaining more minutes for basketball and being able to showcase what I can do a bit more.
"Obviously it wasn't the best news to hear, especially this late into the season heading into finals and everything but I've got a really good supportive network of teammates, coaches, family, friends that have already made it 10 times easier for me."
Warrnambool is almost a certainty to play finals in the Hampden league, sitting fourth on the ladder with four rounds remaining.
The Mermaids are seventh in the Big V women's championship division with two games remaining and can still qualify for finals by finishing top-five.
Matt Hughes
Matt is a sports journalist at The Standard.
Matt is a sports journalist at The Standard.
