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Jacinda Barclay

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Jacinda Barclay
Barclay playing for Greater Western Sydney in 2018
Personal information
Date of birth (1991-02-18)18 February 1991
Date of death 12 October 2020(2020-10-12) (aged 29)
Place of death Chidlow, Western Australia[1]
Original team(s) Swan Districts (WAWFL)
Draft No. 65, 2016 national draft
Debut Round 1, 2017, Greater Western Sydney vs. Adelaide, at Thebarton Oval
Height 170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Utility
Playing career
Years Club Games (Goals)
2017–2020 Greater Western Sydney 23 (11)
Source: AustralianFootball.com

Jacinda Barclay (18 February 1991 – 12 October 2020) was an Australian sportswoman who played baseball, American football and Australian rules football at high levels. She represented the Australian national team in five Women's Baseball World Cups and played professional football for the Chicago Bliss in the Legends Football League and Greater Western Sydney in the AFL Women's (AFLW). Citing her success across multiple sports, The Sydney Morning Herald called Barclay "the Sonny Bill Williams of women's sport" in 2016.[2]

Early life

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Jacinda Barclay was born on 18 February 1991[3] to New Zealander parents[4] and grew up in Chidlow, Western Australia (a rural locality in the Perth Hills), and attended La Salle College. She began playing Australian rules football at age 12, before deciding to focus on baseball as a teenager.[5]

Career

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Baseball

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Barclay spent her junior baseball career on boys' teams.[6] A right-arm pitcher, she made her state debut for Western Australia at the age of 15 (at the 2006 national championships), and the following year was included in the national squad for the first time.[7] Barclay represented the Australian national team (the Emeralds) in the 2008 World Cup in Japan at the age of 17. She won a silver medal at the 2010 World Cup in Venezuela, and played in three more world cups (Canada 2012, Japan 2014, and South Korea 2016).[8]

American football

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Barclay began playing American football in 2012, while living in Chicago. Her initial attempts to win a contract in the Legends Football League were thwarted by her visa status.[2] Barclay later signed with the New South Wales Surge for the inaugural 2013–14 season of LFL Australia (the competition's only season so far). She played as a quarterback, leading her team to a title and winning an award as the best offensive player in the league. In 2016, Barclay was scouted by the Chicago Bliss in the main LFL competition in the United States.[9] She won a championship in her first season.[10]

Australian rules football

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Barclay began playing Australian football at the age of twelve, although she gave it up for a period in order to concentrate on baseball.[11] At amateur level, she played for periods with Swan Districts in the West Australian Women's Football League (WAWFL) and the UNSW Eastern Suburbs Stingrays in the Sydney Women's AFL competition.[12] Barclay represented both Western Australia and NSW/ACT at the AFL Women's National Championship.[13][14] She was drafted to Greater Western Sydney with the 65th pick overall in the 2016 AFL Women's draft,[15] and made her senior debut for the club in round one of the 2017 season, against Adelaide at Thebarton Oval.[3]

After playing six games in 2017, Barclay signed for the 2018 season with Greater Western Sydney during the trade period in May 2017.[16]

AFL Women's statistics

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Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2017 Greater Western Sydney 34 6 4 3 27 9 36 13 10 0.7 0.5 4.5 1.5 6.0 2.2 1.7 0
2018 Greater Western Sydney 34 7 4 3 41 31 72 23 20 0.6 0.4 5.9 4.4 10.3 3.3 2.9 0
2019 Greater Western Sydney 34 5 2 2 19 21 40 6 5 0.4 0.4 3.8 4.2 8.0 1.2 1.0 0
2020 Greater Western Sydney 34 5 1 1 23 17 40 11 12 0.2 0.4 4.6 3.4 8.0 2.2 2.4 0
Career[17] 23 11 9 110 78 188 53 47 0.5 0.4 4.8 3.4 8.2 2.3 2.0 0

Personal life and death

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In 2016, Barclay was working in the professional diving industry as an assistant life support technician and had aspirations to become a sports psychologist.

Barclay was found dead at her Perth home on 12 October 2020. Her death was implied to have been a suicide.[1][18] Barclay was the first contact sportswoman in Australia to donate her brain to the Australian Sports Brain Bank. Researchers uncovered neurological degradation to her cerebral white matter, similar to that found in the brains of former American football players. Damage of this type is thought to be the result of multiple head injuries from contact sports and is linked to an increased risk of suicide, and is also known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy[19][20]

In April 2021, Barclay's family and friends interviewed with The Guardian about her life and death. Remembered as a strong and ambitious figure in women's sports, Barclay was also distressed by the different pay scales and recognition accorded to male and female athletes. Barclay, who had been told she would easily have earned $200,000 a year as a male athlete, was paid $23,059 in 2020 as a tier two player for the Greater Western Sydney Giants women's team. Her struggle to succeed in a business with a far lower ceiling for women than men, combined with her head trauma, was ascribed a factor in her death by her confidants.[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Valencich, Glenn (13 October 2020). "Sporting world rocked by death of AFLW player Jacinda Barclay aged 29". Seven News. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b Buckley, James (29 October 2016). "Why GWS Giants recruit Jacinda Barclay is the Sonny Bill Williams of women's sport". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Jacinda Barclay bio". Australian Football. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  4. ^ "Tragedy as Aussie sport pioneer Jacinda Barclay dies aged 29".
  5. ^ "Jacinda Barclay, AFLW, baseball and American football player, dies aged 29". www.abc.net.au. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  6. ^ "A first as pair step up to men's plate", The West Australian, 11 August 2010. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  7. ^ "Jacinda hits new heights", Hills Gazette, 1 June 2007. Retrieved from Factiva, 18 February 2017.
  8. ^ "Players: 2016 Women's World Cup Team / Jacinda Barclay" Archived 15 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Baseball Australia. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  9. ^ "BLISS UPGRADE BEFORE THEIR OPENER WITH SIGNING OF LFL AUSTRALIA QUARTERBACK JACINDA BARCLAY", Legends Football League, 12 May 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  10. ^ "Skills trump sex appeal as women blaze a trail", The West Australian, 18 February 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  11. ^ "Emeralds star taking Giant steps forward"[permanent dead link], Baseball Australia Media, 13 October 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  12. ^ "Women's AFL Draft: 11 Swan Districts players recruited for inaugural season", Eastern Reporter, 17 October 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  13. ^ "SA, Victoria and WA name their teams for the 2011 AFL Women's National Championships", WorldFootyNews, 26 May 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  14. ^ "Inaugural NSW/ACT women's side named" Archived 18 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine, AFL NSW/ACT, 5 June 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  15. ^ "Your Latest GIANTS", GWS Giants, 12 October 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  16. ^ "AFLW: All the clubs' full lists after trade period - AFL.com.au". afl.com.au. Telstra Media. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  17. ^ "Jacinda Barclay statistics". Australian Football. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  18. ^ "'Demons none of us knew': Friends open up on 29-year-old's shock death". 7NEWS.com.au. 14 October 2020.
  19. ^ Convery, Stephanie (29 April 2021). "Damage found after late AFLW player Jacinda Barclay donates brain for concussion research". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  20. ^ McIntire, Kayla L.; Crawford, Kelly M.; Perrin, Paul B.; Sestak, Jordan L.; Aman, Kyle; Walter, Lauren A.; Page, David B.; Wen, Huacong; Randolph, Brittney O.; Brunner, Robert C.; Novack, Tom L. (18 January 2021). "Factors Increasing Risk of Suicide after Traumatic Brain Injury: A State-of-the-Science Review of Military and Civilian Studies". Brain Injury. 35 (2): 151–163. doi:10.1080/02699052.2020.1861656. ISSN 0269-9052. PMID 33460350. S2CID 231641252 – via Taylor & Francis online.
  21. ^ Convery, Stephanie (30 April 2021). "'So full of life and love, so sad inside': how Jacinda Barclay's death could help us understand concussion in sport". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
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