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Important update on 1476AMSkinfold tests in "toxic" environment: Star's disordered eating ordeal
Emily Benammar • April 22nd, 2026 7:53 pm
Trigger warning: This article deals with the topic of disordered eating. Reader caution is advised.
Former Thunderbirds and Melbourne Mavericks star Maisie Nankivell has bravely opened up about her struggles with disordered eating and the "dark spiral” of compulsive and exhausting food tracking she experienced during her netball career.
The midcourter-turned-AFLW player spoke about her experiences and road to recovery in a sit-down interview with SEN’s Centre Court, explaining she wanted to use her voice and platform to help anyone that could relate to her story.
The 26-year-old, who navigated away from netball to return to the footy field at the end of the 2025 season, lifted the lid on a confronting conversation she had while training in 2019, and that she had been so adamant on landing a contract she was willing to do “whatever it took”.
“I was always strong, but I didn’t show muscle as such,” Nankivell told Kelsey Browne in an extensive interview. “It does stem from when I was coming through the ranks and when I was at Thunderbirds; some comments were said to me and that made me question a lot about myself.
“I was performing really well, I was moving with freedom, I was registering some of my best results and then we had the classic skinfold tests which are thankfully optional now. I had some done and I guess mine were a lot higher than some of the other girls and I was pulled aside at training one day and some things were said to me.
“At the time it didn’t cross my mind that I was carrying extra weight. Once these things were said to me, I remember I had to go out and train and I was welling up on the baseline.
“I started to spiral with my thinking; I started to second-guess what I was eating. I got to the point I had a really bad relationship with food. I was restricting myself.
“We trained every day, triple-session days, double-session days. If I trained more and ate less, I thought I would slim down and that’s what the coaches were wanting.
“That’s where going to the Mavs felt like the right thing for me to do. It felt like a fresh start and getting out of an environment I felt was toxic for me to a place I felt valued.
“In hindsight it shows how powerful words can be. I never used to care what people thought of me but to hear it from a coach I respected and wanted to impress; I had to do everything they said and everything right. I felt an overwhelming pressure.
“Even up to this day I question what I look like. I have days that I get down on myself, but I have come along way since that dark period which went for three or four years.
“It was a never-ending spiral. I was trying so hard to impress these coaches and I lost who I was."
If you are struggling, please reach out for help: EDV Victoria 1300 550236
EDV and Henley have partnered with the Melbourne Mavericks to raise awareness, promote positive body image, encourage healthy relationships with food, and support those affected by eating disorders.
