A love of tennis combined with fierce determination has opened the world to this Central Queensland teenager

The 19-year-old should have just finished Year 12 in the tiny town of Moura in the coalfields district of Central Queensland. Instead, she’s two years into a degree at Dartmouth College on America’s East Coast; committed to Ivy League tennis and on the road to a career in finance.

But for the first time in her life, she’s at a crossroads. Until this point, her self-determination and commitment to study and sport has been unprecedented.

“I always knew I was different,” she says.

As a child, Ameliija frequently found herself playing ‘schools’ alone on the trampoline at home, or seeking out the company of older children at school as she felt more comfortable with their conversation. Her three younger siblings — Lara, Heidi and Spencer — thought her games too serious to play for long.
Her bright mind attracted the interest of her teachers and eventually they allowed her to skip Year 3. Her academic repu­t­ation followed her to the local high school.

“We looked at schools all over the place and there were plenty that wanted her academically, but couldn’t support her tennis commitments,” says her mother, Nichole.

“We had a better chance of supporting her here in Moura and driving her to Brisbane every week ourselves. She had her father Andrew as a coach and a contemporary elsewhere would have cost us a thousand dollars a week — that’s before tournaments. We had never envisioned her skipping any grades in high school.”

But skip grades she did. In Year 9, some course work was extended to a Year 11 level and with 100 per cent in all her testing, her incredibly supportive teachers and principal allowed her to move up permanently.

“I was a bit of a goody-two-shoes: I was at school to learn and I wasn’t being challenged,” says Ameliija.
To make up her subject credits, Ameliija managed to complete the whole of Year 9 English over the school holidays. Year 10 was spread out over a couple of terms because of a heavier subject load in her senior year. “She was so determined to go to college in the US and play tennis, that nothing could stop her,” says Nichole.

She was 16-and-a-half years old when she graduated from high school, too consumed with a national tennis tournament to celebrate at her classmates’ parties.

My interest in Ameliija was first piqued on the sideline of a junior rugby league game, overhearing her proud father talking about his daughter’s recent college tour. It transpired that until her move overseas, it was he who spent hours lobbing serves to her in Moura’s tennis courts, often after long hours at work at his engineering and fabrication business.

Andrew drew on his years as a professional cricket coach, determined that her talent would not be wasted. It wasn’t. Ameliija had reached the pinnacle of Central Queensland’s women’s tournament by age 11, and this talented youngster’s sights turned to the national competition.

In fact, Andrew and Nichole were so dedicated to Ameliija’s budding career they drove the 1200 kilometre round trip to Brisbane (and often beyond) almost every weekend for five years — sacrificing precious weekends with the other three siblings and each other.

“We had to,” says Nichole. “Andrew didn’t realise how tired he was until she left, but he loved coaching her.”

Ameliija’s self-discipline is extraordinary.

“I think I still do my fair share of procrastinating, but I know exactly how long it’s going to take to get things done and it will get done. Which is exactly what Mum does,” she says. “Dad also works really hard and was remarkable in the sacrifices he made for me. I’ve never had anyone around me who didn’t work hard, and that was inspiring.”

“I remember thinking that if my 17-year-old has the tenacity to take this on, who am I to stand in her way?” Nichole recalls. Eventually, the international borders opened and there was a slim window to get Ameliija to the US in January 2021. The only obstacle? Queensland lockdowns.

“We said goodbye in the gutter outside the International Terminal in Brisbane. I cried the entire 10 hours to Doha,” says Ameliija. “The flight attendant announced that by leaving Australia, you can’t come back for six months. All the adrenalin I’d been running on for years just ran out and I realised what I’d done. That’s when I started really crying.”

Once settled at college, the reality of being a tennis academic protégée began to set in; however, despite a heavy school load and a minimum of 20 hours of tennis a week, Ameliija is delighted.

“Going to Dartmouth has been good for me, as I realised I don’t have to be the best at everything. At Moura I had to be the best; to keep proving myself,” she says. “Here, I’m surroun­ded by people who are accomplished, driven, and very smart. I’m still working really hard, but in the same way everyone else is and that’s really nice.”