After having her dreams of representing Australia crushed when the 2020 World Floorball Championships were cancelled, local player Jorja Charles’ dreams have been reignited with recent selection for both the Floorball WA Women’s State Team and the U19 Australian Women’s Team.
“I have been playing for five years now,” Jorja said.
“I got into the sport at my school, Southern Hills Christian College, and my mum noticed how often I talked about it so she signed me up for the Redbacks Floorball Club in Byford which is where I started playing proper floorball.
“After the World Championship got cancelled last year I was extremely upset, so finding out that Australia was sending a team this year was fantastic.
“The selection process was very fast, and I barely had any time to catch my mind up to what was happening.
“But when I got the email telling me that I was selected once again I screamed a little and started crying, which was a quite embarrassing considering I was at school.”
It has been a long wait for Jorja, but the up-and-coming athlete didn’t spend it slouching.
During her off-season, Jorja saw the opportunity to get in some extra training and applied to join the WA State Team, and her successful application led to more exciting news.
Later this month, the team will travel to Singapore to represent WA in the Singapore Floorball Open, before Jorja heads to Poland for the World Championships in August.
“Getting to represent my state in the largest floorball tournament in Asia is such an honour,” Jorja said.
“I was not expecting that to happen when I first joined the State Team.”
“This is a great opportunity to see what is to be expected in Poland.
“The girls and I are definitely looking to hold our place as the top non-European team.
“We don’t expect to be number one in the world, due the skill levels of all the European teams, but we are hoping to get first in our pool.”
The unexpected cancellation in 2020 was a tough pill to swallow, coming only weeks before the games commenced.
Now Jorja is fundraising to realise her dreams, selling homemade scrunchies to pay for the costs of transport, accommodation, flights, uniforms and setting up a gofundme page.
“Both my parents have been my biggest supporters since day one,” Jorja said.
“I would like to say thank you to all coaches over the years who have helped me improve to the point where I can finally represent my country, my teachers for encouraging me in my success as a floorball player and my teammates from all the clubs I’ve played at (Redbacks Floorball Club, Western Wolves Floorball Club and Oilers Floorball Club).
“All of my teammates at these clubs were so supportive and encouraging of me,” she said.
To contribute to Jorja’s travel costs, visit gofund.me/0afa3104
