Life providing Carley everything she dreamed of

Featured image: Cam Brown | @cambrownvisuals

Not many people can say their life is turning out how they dreamed but Carley Ernst feels that way even if it's chaotic as she embraces the NBL1 South championship push at Waverley Falcons, prepares for WNBL return at Southside Melbourne Flyers and doing so now as a mother-of-two.

Ernst grew up dreaming of two things – being a wife and mother, and playing basketball at the highest level she possibly could. The fact she's now able to do both still all at once is something that makes her emotional with how thankful she is.

It was less than four months ago that Carley gave birth to her and husband's Josh's second son, Reuben, who joined Kylan in their young family. And on the home front as crazy as things might be, she couldn’t be happier.

But her passion to play basketball and win on the court remains as strong as ever so she has now successfully made it back this NBL1 South season with Waverley ahead of Sunday's home preliminary final against the Diamond Valley Eagles while also preparing to play at the Southside Melbourne Flyers again in WNBL27.

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While there's not a second of Ernst's day that is easy or calm, to have everything she ever dreamed of with family and basketball in her life, she couldn’t be more thankful.

"It gets me teary thinking about it and I'm honestly so grateful that I'm still able to do what I love in the sport and then also be a mum as well to my two amazing boys," Ernst said.

"I still have that love and the passion for the game, and the want to win, and I think that once I lose that it's when it will be time to step aside and move off the court.

"But for now, I still have that want to win and to win more championship so I'm excited and grateful to still be able to have the opportunity with Waverley and then going into Southside as well for this WNBL season."

Summing up what life is like

For someone to be able to say that their life is everything they dreamed of is such a heart warming thing and doesn't happen too often so Ernst is fully aware how lucky she is with how things have turned out for her.

To have a husband, two sons and two clubs that she plays basketball at form her life and provide everything and more she ever wanted, means that in the very brief seconds she might even get to reflect has her immensely thankful.

"It's everything that I ever wanted and even though my life might be chaos, and no day is the same as the other, but I think I've learnt this time around with a second child that you can't do a routine," Ernst said.

"I'm a very routine orientated person, but you can't do that with kids and every day is different. It's honestly the best and it's everything I have ever wanted.

"I wanted kids for as long as I can remember so home life is great and my husband is amazing too so we're very smitten as a whole family so I'm loving it."

Making it back to play so quickly

After giving birth to Reuben back on April 15, Ernst set her mind to making it back to play this NBL1 South season with Waverley where she has now been playing since 2022 and was instrumental in their South and National Finals championships back in 2024.

She wanted to be back playing before throwing herself into a WNBL pre-season and then ahead of WNBL27 at the Flyers. She has successfully now made it back to play the last two games heading into this Sunday's preliminary final.

"I don’t know exactly, but I think when I put my mind to something, I'm gonna do it and I did the same after Kylan too," Ernst said.

"I think mentally for me it's good to have something else to do than just being stuck at home all the time being a mum.

"It hasn’t been easy and I've had to make myself work out and get myself right to be able to play, but I love doing it so it's good to be back.

"And it's good to surround myself with people and all of my friends and everyone around the club as well as being at home with Kylan and Reuben along with my husband Josh. It's been good for me physically and mentally to have that to give me something else to focus on."

Bouncing back so quickly physically

To watch Ernst back on the court at Waverley the last two games and there is absolutely no indication at all that she is someone who had a baby less than four months ago.

Physically she looks right back to where she always was as a player and while that touch and conditioning on court is still a work in progress, she couldn’t be happier with how the whole return has gone to schedule.

"Physically I feel really good and I still feel a bit like my timing is a little bit off on the court, and I'm a little bit slow still, but obviously that's going to come when I've only played two games," Ernst said.

"But I have been training for longer than that, but that'll come with time and having an extremely tired brain by the time I step on the court doesn't always help as well. Sometimes there's a lot going on in my brain, but I do feel really good and am happy to be back out there."

Making sure not to return too soon

Given how determined and motivated Ernst is to not wait for what she wants in life, she was pushing to make her comeback to the court much earlier than she did back in the last game of the regular season with Waverley on July 18.

She played eight minutes for five points and three assists in that return in the win over the Ringwood Hawks that locked the Falcons into their place on a five-game winning streak to earn a break in the first week of the finals.

She was then asked to play big minutes in Sunday's qualifying final and was out there for 23 minutes for seven points, four rebounds and two assists in the overtime win over the Casey Cavaliers.

But even if she was trying to push for an earlier return, she had all the right people around her who made sure stuck to plan and it's all going swimmingly so far.

"I definitely wanted to come back earlier but it was actually Jenni (Candler) from Southside who was holding me accountable and making sure I didn’t play too soon," Ernst said.

"I followed a plan from her and Durham (McInnis) my strength and conditioning coach also, and Eli has been working with me too along with Southside to make sure I'm not returning too early.

"Obviously I've got a WNBL season coming up which is going to be huge and I need to be right for that.

"I personally wanted to come back through NBL1 just to get those little jitters out before going into WNBL but obviously didn’t want to come back too early where I might injure myself or end up with a tendon issue or something like that which would niggle into WNBL.

"We've really been working as a team to make sure I'm physically right and able to, and it's all worked out at the perfect time. I feel great out there and I'm pulling up not sore and feeling really well too so it's all good."

Being sorely needed at Waverley too

No matter what situation Waverley found themselves in, Ernst still had to follow the proper return to play plan given the big picture is to make sure she's ready to be out there on the opening night of Southside's WNBL season.

But as it does turn out, with injuries to Maddi Utti and Sophia Locandro, the Falcons desperately need Ernst out there to hold down a spot in the front court and she played a pivotal role in their overtime win on Sunday, and will be crucial again this week against Diamond Valley.

"The overtime was not expected and I maybe played a few more minutes than I was meant to, but I pulled up great and that's the competitive nature of me that I just had to stay out there and deal with the aftermath later," Ernst said.

"And without Maddi and Soph, it's kinda good for us I was able to come back and fill that bigs position now with two such key big injuries and I feel awful for them.

"The group's ready now for Sunday and we've got a good chance of winning and then hopefully taking it right through the Grand Final."

Taking on Abbey and the Eagles

Speaking of this Sunday, the Falcons host the Eagles at Waverley Basketball Stadium with a spot in next Saturday night's Grand Final the prize for the winner.

With Diamond Valley featuring not only Abbey Ellis but also Alex Sharp, Erin Riley, Sophie Byrnes, Shannon Dufficy, Tayha Watkins and Isis Beh, Ernst knows it's a big test but she's excited the Falcons get to play the preliminary final on their home floor.

"It's so good that we're playing at home and I love our crowd and our fans at Falcons Nest so it will be really good that we get to play at home on Sunday," Ernst said.

"We know what a tough game it's going to be and we'll have to do the right preparation this week to get on to watching film, and watching them and putting a plan in place.

"But one thing with us is that we never give up, we work our arses off no matter if we get down and take it to overtime like we've done so many times this year I've lost count.

"I think we're in for a good chance but they're going to be tough and they've got Abbey Ellis in the guard spot who's a really good player, and they've got many other good players as well. We just have to come out and play our style of game and just be ready."

Having two such supportive clubs

While home life with husband Josh and their sons couldn’t be going better for Ernst, she also knows that she couldn’t find better clubs to be at than Waverley in the NBL1 and Southside in the WNBL that she gets to call home too.

"It's so exciting and I have aligned myself with two of the most beautiful clubs in Southside and Waverley," Ernst said.

"Especially with Waverley taking me back so early not knowing if I actually would be ready to play this year, but still allowing me to be in the environment with the girls.

"Then of course at Southside, I've been with them for so long now and they've supported me through absolutely everything with motherhood starting with Kylan growing up.

"Now Reuben is going to be on the sidelines as well and I can't think any more highly of both clubs and I'm so grateful to be in a position that I am to be able to still play basketball and do what I love, and have my children beside me. It's something that I'll be forever grateful for."