“Don’t let anyone else dictate how you want your future to go, it’s up to you,” Kelsey Mitchell tells the WSA.
The American is a record-breaking guard for the Indiana Fever, the second-highest scoring player in NCAA history and one of the most exciting players in the WNBA.
Resilience and the fearless pursuit of success has seen the Cincinnati native dubbed a “warrior” by her coach and army of basketball fans throughout the USA.
The 27-year-old is looking to make an even bigger impact on her return to the sport in 2023 after missing much of this campaign through injury.
“People often ask me what I’m proudest of and genuinely it’s making it to where I am now,” she tells the Women’s Sports Alliance (WSA).
“Being in a room with other people who are amazing at what they do and mixing with people from entirely different countries and cultures, it makes me so grateful.”
Kelsey is a twin, but she and sister Chelsea are not the only double-act in the Mitchell household with her parents also welcoming into the world twin brothers Kevin and Cameron, three years before their daughters arrived.
They each demonstrated a passion for sport as children, but despite the age-gap Kelsey seemed determined to rival her brothers from a young age.
Their parents, Cheryl and Mark, tell a story about hearing a “hard crash” into the side of the house before four-year-old Kelsey appeared bruised, upset, but with no serious injuries.
She had been taking on her elder brothers – already showing athletic prowess in soccer and American football – in a basketball showdown.
Kelsey had taken a knock, but her athletic drive and desire was clear, by 12 she was ‘moonlighting’ in her father’s men’s league and at that stage was widely the number one player in the country for her age.
The now 27-year-old states family has always been a driving force in her life; her siblings motivated, parents supported and a grandparent gave perspective.
“My family have always been a big inspiration to me and particularly my grandmother,” she tells the WSA.
“Back then (when she was growing up) it wasn’t easy for us to vote, or a lot of things, so that generation kind of paved the way for us to be here, which we have to be grateful for.”
From her teens her dream became clear and WNBA stars became ‘poster girls’ stuck to her bedroom walls as well as ‘screensavers’.
Two in particular stood out, fellow Americans Maya Moore and Brittney Griner.
The former has been described by Sports Illustrated as the “greatest winner in the history of women’s basketball” while the latter is a three-time All-American and one of only 11 women in history to have won an Olympic gold medal, NCAA Championship, FIBA World Cup title and WNBA Championship.
“They WNBA has come a long way and people like Maya Moore and Britney Griner, they’ve paved the way for me to be here,” states Kelsey.
“I gotta take my hat off to them and all the players who played before me, because I don’t think I’d have been here without them!”
To many, Kelsey herself is now a role model too, a role she is clearly proud of. “It’s amazing, I think my family and people like you guys make for a better person and human so it’s always important to accept people for who they are and make sure you treat them with respect,” she tells the WSA.
“For me, it’s always about living on that and standing on that for future generations.”