Old scholar Kelsey Rypstra’s journey from Hound to Bulldog
Kelsey Rypstra (BPS’21) has become the 13th Blackfriars old scholar to make it onto an AFL list. Fellow old scholar and journalism student Hudson Cosgrove reports.
In mid 2022, Blackfriars old scholar Kelsey Rypstra was told he would never play football again.
While playing in North Adelaide’s U18 side, Rypstra (BPS’21) had suffered an horrific injury, tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, posterior cruciate ligament, lateral collateral ligament and meniscus, fracturing his leg, dislocating his knee and damaging the nerves in his left leg.
Late last month, the small forward was one of only 19 footballers from across Australia selected in the AFL Mid-Season Draft.
Rypstra was at training with his North Adelaide teammates when he learned he had been taken at number 8 by the Western Bulldogs.
“It’s overwhelming the amount of messages and support I got from when I got drafted. I’m more than grateful,” Rypstra said.
He said coming back from the knee injury was difficult.
“It was a really hard time, not knowing if I’d play the sport I love again,” he said.
“But (now) it’s a moment of, ‘I’ve got there, I’ve made it to the AFL’. I found it pretty cool that other AFL and all Australian players can get to know my story.”
North Adelaide Reserves coach Craig Brooks was there on the day of Rypstra’s injury.
“Devastating is a really strong word, but it was devastating for everyone to see him in such pain,” Brooks said.
In what he described as a “full-circle moment”, Brooks was also there the night Rypstra learned he had been drafted.
“It’s great to see someone who really deserves it just get rewarded for his effort. I wish him all the best,” Brooks said.
Rypstra’s dad, Brad, said his son was one of the hardest-working people he knew.
“I’d get home on Saturday and he had already ran 5km around an oval, and he just kept going and going and going, thinking he was always going to get back,” Mr Rypstra said.
“It (draft night) was one of the top five nights of my life. It’s one of the best feelings you can have.”
“It’s the most inspirational thing I have seen in my life, seeing him go from rock bottom with his injury to getting drafted into the AFL.
Rypstra was adapting nicely to life in Melbourne, where he lives with fellow Western Bulldogs player James Harmes and his wife. However, the Melbourne traffic and freezing cold temperatures were taking some getting used to.
As for Mr Rypstra, while he missed his son, there was an unexpected upside.
“It’s sad to see him leave, something I wasn’t ready for,” he said.
“However, I am so proud he gets to follow his dreams. Plus, I save around $150 each week on food shopping.”
- Author Hudson Cosgove (BPS’23) is Kelsey Rypstra’s cousin. Main picture: Instagram/Western Bulldogs
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