Gemma Potter on the road to recovery and back in Canberra

UC Capitals player Gemma Potter has returned to Canberra, nine weeks after undergoing surgery for a ruptured ACL during the UC Capitals season opener of the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season.

“It’s good to be back and have that sense of the second home and family that we have here,” Gemma said.

“Being back around the girls is crucial in this part of the rehab.”

The 20-year-old had surgery in Melbourne and stayed with her family for the first couple months of recovery and rehab.

“Mum in the end was like a nurse. She’d come into my room knowing exactly what I needed, my family read me and knew what I needed. Let me have my space, forced me to be with them when they knew I didn’t want it but needed it.”

Even from hundreds of kilometres away, she was still able to remain connected to the team.

“Vealy’s a former player so she knows what it’s like to have injuries,” she said.

“Sometimes you do just need that space to not be attached to the team as it caused pain knowing I couldn’t be there. She was really great in letting me recover mentally but then be there for to help recover physically.

“I was watching all the games and still in all the group chats, so it was easy to stay in contact.”

Now she’s back, she will be courtside for every training session and home game, learning what she can from the bench, offering advice and support where she can.

“At home everything I was doing was for myself and my knee. It was rehab, home, gym, Pilates – repeat.

“Being back and able to surround myself with the girls and living with them is something different.”

“I can start doing more in the gym now, which is perfect timing to come back here, I can start shooting now. It’s a couple weeks until I can run and then I think it will fly by.”

The Caps making sure to keep her part of the team and the community, put straight to work doing what she loves and helping coach young kids at the Caps Camp.

“It’s great be involved in the community, we all love when we see the young fans in the crowd but to actually be able to interact with them on this level and build those relationships is awesome.”