With the inaugural ADPL season fast approaching, we get to know Meals Fitzsimons, the Mixed Dodgeroos captain from Manchester, 2016 and a current member of the Northcote Night’s Watch Dodgeball Club. 
Personal Life |
What do you love to do in your spare time? Other than dodgeball, I mostly travel or hang out with my family and friends when I’m home. I come from a gigantic family (lots of cousins that are within 5 years of me), 3 nieces and 2 nephews. My sister had twin baby girls recently, so I spend a lot of time over there. They are incredibly cute!
Ideal holiday destination? Only ONE location?! Well that’s a bit hard. So far I have travelled to 46 countries and I still feel like I haven’t seen enough! I would probably say Egypt, as I used to want to be an archaeologist when I was a kid. Seeing the pyramids in person would blow my mind!
Who’s your inspiration? My parents are my inspiration. They have always been loving, caring, supportive and positive. They have struggled, have worked hard all of their lives. They always put us first and it’s only in the past few years that they have had the opportunity travel and enjoy the fruition of their labors.
Favourite sports? A better question would be “what are my least favourite sports”. The answer would be Golf, Test Cricket and Car Racing.
First job held? My first ever proper job was working at Bakers Delight when I was 14 years of age.
Current occupation? I have always found myself with itchy feet, and enjoy having more than one job. So at the moment I work part-time at Bakers Delight (yes, I’ve been there for 15 years on and off), and I nanny part-time.
How would your best friend describe you? My best friend would probably describe me as fun, loving and most likely LOUD!
Favourite food? There are too many delicious options to choose from, but my go to confectionery item is always chocolate. All of the chocolate. All of the time.
Favourite TV show? Too many to name them all but mostly Game of Thrones, Vikings and pretty much any British comedy from a decade ago (Black Books and the IT crowd being my favourites).
Favourite band / artist? I absolutely adore music and love to enjoy a wide range, but my stand outs would have to be:
Old: Fleetwood Mac, anything from Mo town, David Bowie, The Beatles.
New: Missy Higgins, Bon Iver, Matt Corby, Gotye and Flume.
Favourite quote? “Not all those who wander are lost” loved this quote by Tolkien so much I got it as a tattoo!
Your most annoying habits? I wouldn’t call it a habit as such but probably my worst (or best depending on your view of things) trait would be I am emotional. Like, over the top emotional. I am either bouncing off the walls with excitement or crying. For instance, I watched a compilation video on YouTube of soldiers coming home to their excited dogs. Story of my life.
A household chore you hate? Dishes. It’s well known that I love to cook but I refuse to do the dishes.
On The Court |
How long have you been playing dodgeball? About 3 years. 
What are your main strengths on the court? My positive attitude and keeping everyone’s spirits up.
What do you think you could improve on? There is always room to improve. Originally I was disappointed that I didn’t make it on the Women’s Dodgeroos team for the 2016 World Cup. But now I feel like being a woman in a mixed team and having balls pegged at your face by guys has really improved my catching abilities! For me though it would be my throwing accuracy and my calling ability that could be improved.
Favourite playing position/s? Wing/Wing support.
Favourite teammate? No favourites. Everyone I have ever played with has always brought something different to the table. I have probably played the longest with Leigh Thomas (from the Mixed Dodgeroos) and Mitch Hartshorn (from the Men’s Dodgeroos).
Most annoying teammate? Brad Horsfall!
You were captain of the Mixed Dodgeroos in Manchester. Describe the feeling of leading your team out to battle. I guess best word I could use to describe leading my team out to battle would simply be…pride. We trained our guts out leading up to Manchester and we were not expected to do as well as we did. I am so proud of of what we achieved! Tear. 
Finishing 3rd in the Mixed category was a great achievement. What was your greatest memory for the tournament? For me it would have to be beating USA. Anytime Australia takes on a powerhouse like the States we are coming in as the underdogs. I LOVE being the underdog. We totally annihilated them and personally, I was having a ripper of a game too!
Most difficult opponent in Manchester? England for sure. They were formidable. They took out the mixed category, and rightly so.
What are your future goals and ambitions in dodgeball? I would absolutely love to have the honour of representing my country again in the 2018 World Cup in New York.
The ADPL is a new high performance domestic league. What are you most looking forward to about the ADPL? I’m looking forward to the extremely high level of competition. Playing teams that are better than you, only forces you to rise to the challenge.
It will be great to have a new crop of female talent playing in the ADPL. Having been involved in the Dodgeroos set-up, does this excite you? Seeing how far dodgeball has come over the past couple of years has been mind blowing. I can’t even imagine the talent pool of females that is out there and undiscovered! It is such an exciting time for this sport, and the potential has to be up there with the likes of AFL, Cricket and Netball.
Who’s a player/s we should look out for in the Northcote Night’s Watch? What are your expectations for your team? Pre-season predictions? We have quite a few “unknowns” in our team that could really be deadly. Will Garnsey in particular can pluck balls from the air like no body’s business! I haven’t seen the list of all the teams involved yet, but I feel our team will have a great rivalry with Elliot Dawson’s (Surrey Hills Sloths). Most of us play together outside of the ADPL. I would hope we end up in the top 4.