NSW Swifts defender Teigan O’Shannassy is educating young athletes about the importance of nutrition after her own struggles with food as a teenager
A Super Netball star has opened up about the huge toll of having an eating disorder and how she was plagued with constant injuries due to under-fuelling her body.
Super Netball star Teigan O’Shannassy has revealed how her struggles with an eating disorder and injuries inflamed by not fuelling her body properly as a teenager are driving her mission to educate young athletes about the importance of nutrition.
When she is not guarding the goal circle for the New South Wales Swifts, O’Shannassy is making a name for herself as a foodie away from the court.
Combining her love of cooking with her degree in food and nutrition, O’Shannassy has been building up a following on social media and created her own website Tossed Together – a play on her initials – where she has been creating and sharing healthy recipes.
O’Shannassy has drawn on her own experience of using nutrition and therapy to help her overcome an eating disorder and persistent injuries in her late teens when she was first entering the high performance environment.
The Swifts’ defender revealed how under-fuelling her body had led to her periods stopping and a cycle of injuries, which was compounded by body image issues.
“It got to the point early on in my career, I got lots of injuries – and I have always been a tall and lanky player – and when those injuries happened, I didn’t realise I was underfueling my body,” O’Shannassy said.
“I wasn’t getting my period and I wasn’t building muscle and I think at that point I hadn’t started studying yet. I was interested in the food side of things, but I wasn’t aware of the importance of fuelling or the risk of under-fuelling.
“Not having a period, I was like ‘Great, this is perfect’. I remember speaking to our dietitians at the Giants at the time and she was like ‘Oh, OK, bit of a red flag, let’s follow this up’.
“I kind of then got a bit more serious after that because I then developed an eating disorder and really struggled with my body image.
“At that time I was young in the environment and looked at other players and (thought) if I want to look like them … I really need to control what I’m doing because then I can be a better athlete and that was where I really struggled in that path.
“I was around 18 or 19. They kind of made it known that I could be under-fuelling, I was like ‘No, I’m not … I know what I’m doing’.
“It took me a while to understand and trust the process and I think for me as well, mine came a lot from being injured. I would get injured and thought ‘I’m not training, I shouldn’t be eating as much’ and then I would come back under-fuelled and get injured again.
“I think for a couple of years I was just stuck in that cycle. It probably wasn’t until I moved to Swifts (in 2022) when I thought ‘I need to change something, I know that I need help’. I worked a lot with a therapist and other dietitians as well.
“So that really helped me get through that.”
O’Shannassy started studying sports science at university after high school, but quickly discovered nutrition was the only subject she enjoyed.
The 26-year-old said studying in the subject had also helped her make the adjustments she needed with her attitude towards food, although she admitted she was not immune to “bad body image days”.
“I was really interested in the food side of things and I loved the food side of things and loved cooking but then all of a sudden it was just something that I overtook my life and started to control different aspects of my life,” O’Shannassy said.
“I didn’t realise the risk of that and didn’t really understand the importance of fuelling. Me learning at uni was the best thing because I feel like I finally understood nutrition more.
“Even now, I think we speak about (how) that little voice might not ever go away, but I think it’s more how you respond to it. You’re always going to have bad body image days and unfortunately compare yourself to others or question something.
“But I think (it’s about) how I respond to that now and I know by fuelling my body I have good sessions and I just feel so much better. For me, it’s more like I remember how sh*t I felt and I never want to go back to feeling like that.”
Using her online platform and workshops, O’Shannassy is now a passionate advocate for the importance of performance nutrition and educating young people.
“There are so many things out there on social media and all of this different information, it is easy to get overwhelmed, especially as young girls as well,” the accredited nutritionist said.
“That is a big reason why I started Tossed Together. What I struggled with and what I felt like I didn’t know, that’s what I want to make sure that I am teaching those kids coming through and helping them understand.
“When I do workshops I want to make sure I give all the information and toolkits for these girls and boys to understand and for them to work out what makes them feel their best.
“It makes me sad that eating disorders are so common and the more we talk about it and the more open we are, it’s not something to be embarrassed about and lots of people struggle with it.”
An invitee to the Diamonds squad this year, O’Shannassy is continuing her recovery from a back injury which forced her to miss the Super Netball finals this year, but is hoping to work back into full training in the coming weeks.
And the Diamonds are firmly in her goals in the next two years.
“I would love to push and make that Comm Games team and especially the World Cup the year after so I think it’s a massive two years,” O’Shannassy said.
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