FIRST PERSON: Welsh Netball star, Cara Lea Moseley

The 27-year-old talks to FRAN GILLETT about her journey to the Commonwealth Games, her psychology-inspired business and an obsession with food.

“I WAS born in Abergavenny, but raised in Blackwood.

My dad (Kevin Moseley) played rugby so we moved round quite a bit; up until nine years old I lived in Wales but then I went to England, in Penzance, Cornwall. My dad was playing in that period when the sport was still amateur but turning professional.

From age nine to 18 I was in Cornwall, which is a big change from South Wales. It was amazing, I loved the lifestyle and being so close to the sea and the weather was beautiful. Nothing was too serious and everything was quite chilled out, there are not any big sports teams there. I’ve got really close friends down there who I keep in touch with and try to visit when I can.

Living in Wales was lovely in a different way because where we lived, we had all the family right on our doorstep. People are very friendly and very warm here. Although I’m an only child I saw a lot of my cousins quite often. I loved being amongst all the mountains.

My first attempt at netball was in Hartlepool in Year 5 when I was about eight years old. It was ok. I did other sports at the time; I used to do karate and was still doing that quite seriously. If I’m honest I think got into karate too early, it was a case of too much too young, so by the time we moved to Cornwall I had been competing quite regularly for five or six years, it was a lot to take up and I burned out. There are so many opportunities but other things take over.

Netball wasn’t something I instantly fell in love with. Coach Jean Davis was a very important person in getting me into netball. She saw me in a school tournament when I was about 12 and showed an interest and obviously saw something in me that I hadn’t! She was the first person who took an interest in my netball and I trained with her up until I was 18. I spent a fair amount of my time doing training, at home as well. Jean and I still catch up – I still see her at the club.

From Cornwall I went to Cardiff Met University and studied a three year degree in psychology. During the degree we had a lady who came in and talked about psychology in sport which I found really interesting. I never wanted to go down a mental health route but some of the things she was saying I found interesting. After university I did a postgraduate diploma and then a Masters degree in cognitive behavioural therapy at the University of South Wales in Newport.

When I did my dissertation I was told it sounded more like a business plan than a dissertation, so I decided to set up my business. It’s a company called Mind in Sport which combines psychology with sport. I travel around and have worked with Brighton FC, Swansea FC, Colchester United and Wales Rowing. I love it, the job’s very flexible. It’s hard to summarise what exactly I do but it’s about mental health in sport. As athletes we are so well supported, but the thing we don’t support is the person.

My business is about making sure they are happy. I use elements of CBT and do both individual and group sessions. It’s about empowerment and making emotionally intelligent staff and players, because if you’re generally happy you’re a better player.

On the netball side of things, I played it in England in Cornwall for the under-17s, 19s and 21s teams. Then, when I moved back to Wales, I rang Welsh Netball because I really wanted to play and have a trial. I play as a shooter and my first cap was in January 2007. I’ve always been pretty tall, which definitely helps but when we go to international tournaments the teams are all massive so you have to rely on other things. I remember being told by a coach, you have to be either very tall or very smart and at the time I was neither. So I tried to play a bit smarter.

We train six days a week, four sessions together including two taught sessions for four hours and then practice on Tuesday and Thursday morning which start at 6.45am. Each of us will also have three individual sessions, things like injury prevention, interval fitness, speed and agility sessions. It depends what we need to work on.

I play for both the Celtic Dragons and the national team for Wales. About three to four years, the training of the Dragons and Welsh Netball was combined with the same management team and venue, at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.

I love playing for the Dragons. No matter where we play in the world I always love this venue, it’s always really enjoyable. We have a dedicated following of fans, the ‘green army’, who come to everything. But then nothing beats playing for your country. I always said at four or five years old I wanted to do the Olympics or equivalent. Nothing else would have given me the same achievement if I hadn’t got to that. My sole purpose was to play to the top.

I have always had a general interest in sport. I think the work ethic and the whole never give up attitude comes from my dad, and I’m so competitive – even if it’s just cooking dinner! It was nice to grow up having a like-minded person around.

We didn’t qualify for the 2010 Commonwealth Games so the next opportunity was this one and it was a long time waiting. The games were awesome. We had been at two World Cups so we had already played at that level but it was just as I imagined it to be and wanted it to be. It’s the best games in the world and everyone was there, it was just amazing. Being Team Wales, meeting all the other athletes was fantastic but because we started the day after the opening ceremony, we didn’t really have time to socialise at the games.

We train together so often so we know each other well. A lot of us have known each other for such a long time so by the time we get to the tournaments we’re all well functioning. We never have fall outs or anything and lark about more than other teams. Wherever we go we have comments about how social we are and how we are a positive team. You spend more time with those netball girls than with my family.

Any spare time I have will be spent buying food, cooking food or watching people cook food. I absolutely love cooking. Most of the girls are pretty good though, we won’t drink or have takeaways. Your body needs good food. It can catch up on you if you’re not feeling yourself. Some of the bad foods are not as nice as you think they are.

I live on my own in Cardiff and love it. It’s great to have some peace. My commitment now is certainly to the team as we know for sure we have the world cup next year in Sydney.”