BAILEY MES
Bailey Mes has been a Professional Netball player for nearly ten years and has experienced all the ups and downs that come with a sporting career. A late bloomer, Mes spent a lot of her early career on the bench of a very strong Northern Mystics side. But in 2012, Bailey got invited to trial for the Silver Ferns after only playing one quarter in the whole season. In a ‘Shock Selection’, Mes made the cut and debut at WA for the Silver Ferns against South Africa.
Bailey’s early career was very unique, as by the start of 2013, she had more appearances for the Silver Ferns than for her domestic side the Northern Mystics. A major knee injury slowed the momentum of her career and in search of more game time, Bailey decided to move provinces and play for the Mainland Tactix in Christchurch. Back to playing her more natural position of GA/GS, Mes found form and was one of the stand-out performers at the 2015 World Cup, in which the Silver Ferns had a heart breaking loss to their bitter rivals, Australia. By 2018, Bailey had over 40 caps for New Zealand but after a disastrous display from the Silver Ferns at the Commonwealth Games, Mes was dropped and faced one of her toughest years of being a professional athlete. Negative comments from the media and fans, out of form on the court she questioned herself whether she wanted to carry on.
Getting away from the game through her passion for photography and design helped her in finding perspective and that passion for Netball came back. With new coach Dame Noeline Taurua at the helm, the Silver Ferns culture all changed, Bailey fought her way back into the squad in time for the 2019 World Cup, in which the Silver Ferns were crowned champions. Currently Bailey is managing two careers with an opportunity to work for Sky TV in their Sports Imagery team, combining her two passions of sports and photography. In this Episode, Bailey with host van Beek, go into depth looking back on her career to date. From the moment Bailey announced herself in the Netball scene; to the surprise selection into the Silver Ferns after an amazing trial; dealing with a number of injuries and setbacks; how Bailey found the love of the game again; balancing mental gym vs physical gym; who is Bailey outside of Netball.
Chapters
- Intro (3:15)
- Childhood experiences (5:38)
- When Bailey started playing Netball? (6:55)
- Transition from High School to Professional (10:35)
- Reality vs what you thought it would be like to be Professional Netballer (13:00)
- Hardest position in Netball (14:37)
- “Shock Selection” – 2012 Silver Ferns Trial (19:25)
- Debuting for the Silver Ferns (25:00)
- 2015 World Cup experience (26:49)
- Making the move down to Canterbury (28:45)
- Dealing with an ACL and Concussion injury in Netball (30:12)
- 2018 Commonwealth Games… What happened?! (35:05)
- “New Zealand’s punching bag” – Dealing with negative comments (39:58)
- How Bailey find the love of the game again (44:16)
- Receiving the 2019 World Cup Callup (48:49)
- 2019 World Cup Journey (54:18)
- The Key qualities Noeline Taurua brings as a Coach (59:16)
- Mental Gym – How do you train it? (1:02:19)
- What advice would you give to a 20 year Bailey Mes? (1:05:30)
- Balance between Mental gym vs Physical gym (1:08:24)
- Life Balance - career outside of Netball (1:11:03)
- Covid 19 life (1:16:19)