Perched on a wooden bench in the sweltering Canberra trampolining gym, 16-year-old Ashley Bowden feels right at home.

The Erindale College Year 11 student became a national champion for synchronised trampolining in 2019 with her very first event off the block, a huge feat for a young athlete.

After competing at nationals, Ashley started developing anxiety doing everyday things which eventually seeped into her trampolining training.

“I had a mental block over a skill that really freaked me out. It was a half out [a double front half turn], so that was when it started,” she says.

“I started having anxiety meeting people, and just in my everyday life, so I went to the doctors and psychologists, and they diagnosed me with anxiety. I was put on medication for sleeping, because it was keeping me up at night, and that has really helped make me calmer.”

Ashley explains that her mental block felt like chains or ropes holding her back from doing a skill, which is extremely frustrating for an athlete.

“It feels like you want to take off for a skill, or like you really want to do something, but your body doesn’t let you and you have no control over it,” she says.

“With physical injuries, you just put a cast on it and it heals, but with mental injuries, you have to heal it yourself, which is a much longer process.”

The teenager credits her coach as one of her biggest supporters and one of the reasons she is able to work through her mental blocks and feel safe in the gym.

Head Coach of Canberra Trampolining Gymnastics, Jack Ratz, has been Ashley’s coach since the very beginning of her trampolining career, and they’ve developed a trusting relationship focused on improving her skills.

“I’m prouder of Ash than words can even express. In our gym, there’s never been any stigma around skill issues, or having a good or bad night at training – sometimes that happens. We just work together to take steps forward,” Jack says.

“It’s all about seeing Ash succeed. Whether that’s in five weeks, five months, or five years, it doesn’t matter.”

For the 2021 nationals, Ashley went into the competition with very easy routines, and with a simple mindset of just doing her best and seeing what happens – resulting in an unexpected bronze medal.

“We actually got points deducted because her routines were so easy, but we made finals and she hit another really, really nice routine and ended up with a bronze,” says Jack.

“It goes to show, sometimes it’s more about the effort and the hard work you put in, rather than how flashy the stuff you’re doing necessarily is. Ash just showed off her fantastic technique skill and it was a really proud moment for the both of us.”

No decisions are final as to what competitions Ashley will be competing at this year, but Jack says he’ll do whatever his student is comfortable with.

“I’m fairly sure, in my role as her coach, that when Ash is ready, there won’t be many people in Australia that can beat her. It’s about getting her right for that,” he says.

“Hopefully we compete this year but if we don’t, that’s not the end of the world. There’s next year or there’s the year after – we’re not going anywhere. Ash has a lot of time ahead of her.”

Ashley revealed her favourite skill is a double straight (a double backflip in a straight position) and her face lights up as she explains the trick.

Her love for the sport is evident, and she’s determined to not let her anxiety ruin her passion.

“I’m hoping to make it to worlds and, at the same time, show other people you don’t have to be embarrassed about having anxiety – it’s a normal thing,” Ashley smiles.

“As I’m growing older, I’m realising I have a voice and I want to use it. I don’t need to keep this inside anymore.”

One of Ashley’s coping mechanisms for managing her anxiety is playing the piano and writing songs.

“I write songs about how I’m feeling or how other people make me feel sometimes, and I put them on YouTube. It’s just a coping mechanism that I feel has really helped me,” she says.

“The advice I would give to other athletes in a similar position as me would be to just keep going. It doesn’t get better overnight, but you can always just keep chipping away at it and it will get better over time.”

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