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Speaker 1: Emily Yelnick has played more than fifty games for the

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Speaker 1: Matildas and county. It's a career that so far included

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Speaker 1: an Olympic Games and the fee for World Cup, but

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Speaker 1: her journey into that side was far from the textbook.

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Speaker 2: In fact, it was a school camp.

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Speaker 1: At the Australian Institute of Sport that started her footballing

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Speaker 1: career when her pe teacher asked if she could join

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Speaker 1: in on a training session with the Matildas. Fast forward

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Speaker 1: and Emily made her debut with the Brisbane Raw at

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Speaker 1: age eighteen, and then with the Australian Under nineteens where

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Speaker 1: she scored a hat trick on debut, and eventually with

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Speaker 1: the Tillies a year later. After an extensive career around

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Speaker 1: the world, Emily is back scoring goals at the Melbourne Victory.

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Speaker 2: In her spare time, she works.

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Speaker 1: With fellow Matilda Chloe Lagazo, running Future Baller clinics designed

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Speaker 1: to equip young girls with holistic football skills and mental strength.

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Speaker 1: My name's Sophie and I'm the producer here at the

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Speaker 1: Female Athlete Project. On this week's episode, Choie caught up

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Speaker 1: with Emily, who's worked tooth and nail to keep getting

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Speaker 1: herself a spot in the Matilda squad over the last

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Speaker 1: twelve years, and she's nowhere near done yet. This episode

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Speaker 1: is brought to you by a monash Iv, the exclusive

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Speaker 1: fertility wellness partner for the Australian Athletes Alliance, providing athletes

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Speaker 1: like Emily with reproductive education and care. This chat shows

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Speaker 1: just how far hard work can get you if you

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Speaker 1: never give up, and we hope you enjoy it.

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Speaker 2: Emily, Welcome to the Female Athlete Project.

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Speaker 3: Thanks for having me. I'm excited.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm very keen to have a chat. Can you kick.

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Speaker 4: Us off by taking us back to your childhood and

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Speaker 4: describing Emily as a little kid.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, it's an interesting one actually.

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Speaker 3: So I've always been active.

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Speaker 5: I live and breathe physical activity, sport for as long

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Speaker 5: as I can remember. Mums had a really hard time

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Speaker 5: trying to get me in for dinner, believe it or not,

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Speaker 5: because I'm such a foodie.

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Speaker 4: Now.

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Speaker 5: So, I was one of those kids you know from

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Speaker 5: that played from dusk till dawn and all sports. And

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Speaker 5: as I started to, I guess get towards like that

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Speaker 5: ten that the age of ten, Mark, I actually played basketball.

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Speaker 5: That was my first love and played rugby league with

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Speaker 5: the boys, believe it or not. But then these boys

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Speaker 5: got massive and things changed me pretty quickly. Then I've

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Speaker 5: been knocking on the door begging my mum to let

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Speaker 5: me play football, which is soccer just for those who

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Speaker 5: aren't sure. And yeah, I started my started my footballing

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Speaker 5: journey at the age of twelve at Redlands United. And

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Speaker 5: I had a who's a very good friend of my night,

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Speaker 5: her dad. He had a big lump of There was

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Speaker 5: two coaches and I had about sixty kids to choose

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Speaker 5: from when they got to pick two teams. And he

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Speaker 5: only just told me this story a few years ago,

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Speaker 5: and he said, I don't care which kid you have,

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Speaker 5: but all I know.

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Speaker 3: Is I'm having her on my team.

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Speaker 5: And that was me And I think I scored sixty

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Speaker 5: goals that season, so he made a pretty good choice.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 5: So, didn't grow with any skill, didn't grow up with

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Speaker 5: any good coaches, wasn't extremely talented. But right from a

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Speaker 5: young age, I just I just lived and breathe sport

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Speaker 5: and I just had a burning desire to always be

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Speaker 5: the best.

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Speaker 4: Fire out sixty goals in a season. Sure, there's got

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Speaker 4: to be some talent there. If you're scoring sixty goals

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Speaker 4: in a season.

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Speaker 5: Well most of them were toe punts, which you don't

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Speaker 5: see anymore. Yeah, so yeah, if you they're actually really

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Speaker 5: hard to say. With toe punts, you never know where

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Speaker 5: they're going to go. So, you know, I live back now,

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Speaker 5: the unpredictable nature, unpredictable nature, and I look back now

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Speaker 5: and I wonder, imagine if I had some sort of

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Speaker 5: skill level back then, because a lot of mine was,

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Speaker 5: I would My skill at that point was to pick

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Speaker 5: around one side of the player and run around the

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Speaker 5: other and use my speed.

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Speaker 3: So everything was just finding a way.

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Speaker 5: Because I didn't grow up in any of those programs,

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Speaker 5: I didn't learn skills. A lot of it was I

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Speaker 5: taught myself to add score goals and the driving technique,

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Speaker 5: and you know, all of these things just came to

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Speaker 5: me naturally as time went on.

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Speaker 3: And then I started training and playing with boys.

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Speaker 5: For as long as I could, which was, you know,

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Speaker 5: one of the best advice I can give to any

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Speaker 5: young girls who want to make it out there, play

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Speaker 5: and train with boys as long as you can, because

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Speaker 5: the competition level.

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Speaker 3: Is just far greater, and it just makes you resilient.

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Speaker 5: And yeah, finally, you know, had a dream to get

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Speaker 5: an A league contract and it happened a real roundabout

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Speaker 5: way for me. I'll try to cut this short story short,

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Speaker 5: but I wasn't really making it through the pathway. And

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Speaker 5: all my friends were getting into the QS program, which

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Speaker 5: was the academy back then, the stepping stone to get

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Speaker 5: a Brisbane raw contract, and I wass had little niggles

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Speaker 5: and you know, just it wasn't really falling falling for me.

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Speaker 5: And I actually went on a school trip with my

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Speaker 5: soccer team to the AS and the Matilda's happened to

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Speaker 5: be training there. They had a training camp during my

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Speaker 5: school trip and my teacher, my pe teacher at the time,

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Speaker 5: thought it was a bright idea to go and ask

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Speaker 5: Tom Somarni, who was the head coach at the time, Hey,

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Speaker 5: I've got this kid and you let her train with

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Speaker 5: the national team. And like I thought, he was bonkers

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Speaker 5: who asked? And also like who was crazy enough to

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Speaker 5: let this young girl train with your national team? Tom

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Speaker 5: said yes, who was the head coach. And it was

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Speaker 5: a fitness session that very day. And when I say,

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Speaker 5: I had all the og Matilda's in there, like some

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Speaker 5: of the all time greats so I'm this young fifteen

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Speaker 5: year old and you know absolutely this is a single

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Speaker 5: swim moment and I probably had the best training of

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Speaker 5: my life. And he asked my teacher if I wanted

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Speaker 5: to play an internal game against some boys the next day,

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Speaker 5: and my school came and watched at the AIS and

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Speaker 5: he was on the phone to Jeff Hopkins, which was

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Speaker 5: the QS Academy coach at that current time, who I

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Speaker 5: played for last year in Melbourn Victory, and I said,

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Speaker 5: you've got to get this girl into your program. And

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Speaker 5: a year later, I had my first A league contract

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Speaker 5: for prison Rule.

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Speaker 3: So that story is, yeah, it's.

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Speaker 2: Crazy, God, oh my goodness.

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Speaker 3: I love to tell.

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Speaker 5: Kids that, like you don't know when your time is,

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Speaker 5: then you've always got to hang on to some belief

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Speaker 5: because you know, it can happen in a school trip,

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Speaker 5: it can happen when you're playing in a path, Like

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Speaker 5: you don't know when your time is and when someone's

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Speaker 5: going to recognize that you've got something special. So you've

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Speaker 5: got to just first and foremost believe in yourself and

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Speaker 5: never stop believing.

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Speaker 3: So that was my unofficial pathway to where I am now.

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Speaker 2: That story is incredible.

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Speaker 4: There's a couple of things I want to pick out

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Speaker 4: in terms of those themes. But so you had teacher

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Speaker 4: who literally just said, can you give rocrack in training?

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Speaker 4: You killed it at training and then did you play

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Speaker 4: with the Matilda's team the next day?

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Speaker 5: Yes, it was an internal match against some boys. So yeah,

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Speaker 5: it's it's mind blowing. You know that teacher obviously believed

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Speaker 5: in me. Thought I never knew I had. I never

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Speaker 5: knew what I never It was hard in that moment.

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Speaker 5: You're like am I good enough? Or like why am

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Speaker 5: I not in here already? Like I mustn't be good enough.

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Speaker 5: So there was a lot of self doubt. But I've

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Speaker 5: had the head coach say yes to me, myp coach

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Speaker 5: who believes in me, and I've just been thrown into

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Speaker 5: the lions den And it was a sink or SWI

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Speaker 5: moment that I realized Now later.

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Speaker 3: On in my career, I thrive in those moments. I

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Speaker 3: love being an underdog.

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Speaker 5: And yeah, I had the training of my life and

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Speaker 5: then got a call back and then before you know,

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Speaker 5: my life I mean changed in an instant.

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Speaker 2: Oh, it's just amazing.

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Speaker 4: Through that you talked about the fact that as a

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Speaker 4: little kid you weren't the most talented. No, Like, what

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Speaker 4: do you think There's so many kids out there?

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Speaker 2: Right?

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Speaker 4: Like I was like that in basketball. You touched on

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Speaker 4: being in basketball in the early days. I was like

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Speaker 4: that in basketball, I was never the most talented. But

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Speaker 4: what do you think it is? Like? Is it finding

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Speaker 4: another way? Is it being the hardest worker? Like how

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Speaker 4: is it bouncing back from that stuff when you're not

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Speaker 4: the kid that gets selected in the academies.

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Speaker 2: And all of those programs.

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Speaker 5: It's an easy one for me, and it's taken me

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Speaker 5: a really long time to learn it. It's it's never

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Speaker 5: stopped believing in yourself because over your years, and especially

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Speaker 5: your younger years, which is so critical, there's going to

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Speaker 5: be coaches that don't believe in you. There's going to

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Speaker 5: be coaches that don't think you're good enough. There's going

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Speaker 5: to be parents that are comparing you to their daughters.

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Speaker 5: So you can't compare yourself to any other players.

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Speaker 3: Because you don't.

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Speaker 5: You should never want to be any other player like me. Now,

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Speaker 5: I don't want to be Sam Kerk. I want Sam

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Speaker 5: to be Sam and I want to be known as

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Speaker 5: Emily Gilnick. You know, it's no disrespect to Sam. It's

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Speaker 5: just she's great at what she does and I'm great

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Speaker 5: at what I do. Just to put that into context.

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Speaker 5: But it's to stop comparing yourself to everybody else. Just

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Speaker 5: stay in your lane. And you know, for me, because

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Speaker 5: I didn't have any technical ability and skill, it's something

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Speaker 5: I really started to work on. I was like, hey,

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Speaker 5: I've got something here, So you know, it was you know,

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Speaker 5: not many people know this, but it was a matter

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Speaker 5: of getting up at five am two or three times

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Speaker 5: a week to train with the private coach on my

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Speaker 5: left foot only so like I didn't have a left

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Speaker 5: foot back then it was just for standing on. And

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Speaker 5: now I scored most of my international goals on my

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Speaker 5: left foot, but nobody knows that I used to train

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Speaker 5: for an hour and a half two times a week

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Speaker 5: just on my left foot.

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Speaker 3: You know. And it's being the first one at training

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Speaker 3: in the last one to leave.

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Speaker 5: And I did that when I was younger, and I

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Speaker 5: do it still to this day and I'm thirty two.

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Speaker 5: People think I'm crazy, but you've got to be a

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Speaker 5: little bit crazy to achieve greatness. So definitely, it's just

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Speaker 5: to believe in yourself no matter what. And you know,

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Speaker 5: it's not about proving people wrong. It's about proving yourself right.

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Speaker 5: And I've always just tried to remember that when times

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Speaker 5: are tough.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that.

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Speaker 4: What is it about the sink or swim moments that

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Speaker 4: makes you thrive the challenge?

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Speaker 3: I love a challenge. There's something.

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Speaker 5: I can't explain it that I can't I want to

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Speaker 5: sink my teeth into knowing that people think either a

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Speaker 5: I can't do it, or maybe I'm doubting that I'm

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Speaker 5: not good enough. For instance, my goal has been to

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Speaker 5: play all over the world at some of the best clubs,

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Speaker 5: and I've been able to do that, and I've never

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Speaker 5: gone to a club that's made me feel comfortable. So

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Speaker 5: I played it Bayern Munich, which is, you know, German giants,

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Speaker 5: and they spoke German and it's freezing cold. It's everything

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Speaker 5: the opposite of what's making you comfortable. I played at

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Speaker 5: aston Villa, I played in Japan, I played in Liverpool,

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Speaker 5: like all of these in Sweden, Norway, Canada, all of

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Speaker 5: these uncomfortable situations because they they force me to develop,

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Speaker 5: They forced me to grow up, and they forced me

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Speaker 5: to get better. And I like being in those uncomfortable positions.

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Speaker 5: Because for me, I know it's a matter of I'm

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Speaker 5: going to rise above, Whereas there's a lot of people

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Speaker 5: and it's sad to see because there's a lot of

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Speaker 5: wasted talent out there that when they get posed with

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Speaker 5: the challenge or an uncomfortable situation, it's in the too

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Speaker 5: hard basket. And sometimes people want something for nothing. But

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Speaker 5: I find great reward in fighting for something and earning

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Speaker 5: the right, as in earning my first national team cap.

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Speaker 5: I mean I must have been on the radar for

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Speaker 5: years before he brought me in to the national team,

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Speaker 5: and I went to camps back and back and back

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Speaker 5: until I earned my first national team cap.

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Speaker 3: I got to share the moment with Katrina Gore in

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Speaker 3: twenty twelve.

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Speaker 5: Within Japan, but because I had worked so hard to

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Speaker 5: get there, that moment felt so much more special, Whereas

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Speaker 5: if I had just gone into one camp and played

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Speaker 5: my first cap, it's great, but I haven't really earned it. Ryan,

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Speaker 5: So I've always been a big driver of uncomfortable situations,

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Speaker 5: but fighting fighting for that reward.

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Speaker 4: Can you describe what it felt like in twenty twelve

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Speaker 4: to pull on Matilda's jersey and walk out onto the

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Speaker 4: pitch and represent your country after all of that hard work.

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Speaker 3: Surreal.

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Speaker 5: Not only did I not touch the ball for thirty

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Speaker 5: minutes because Japan was unbelievable.

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Speaker 3: But it was a Pinchban moment.

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Speaker 5: It was a pinch me moment, right, you know, I

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Speaker 5: loved Japan and they were one of the they were

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Speaker 5: in the top five at that point, and it was

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Speaker 5: a matter of.

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Speaker 3: You know, just looking down your numbers going on.

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Speaker 5: You're going on with some of the all time great

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Speaker 5: You're playing against some of the best players in the world,

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Speaker 5: and a coach what gets me in this moment. A

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Speaker 5: coach has a certain amount of players to choose from

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Speaker 5: in the country and in that moment to go into

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Speaker 5: a game, whether you start or come on, and he's

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Speaker 5: chosen me, and that represents it. He believes in me.

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Speaker 5: And I've always needed coaches to believe in me for

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Speaker 5: me to go push one more level. I'm a big,

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Speaker 5: a big confidence player. I need someone to back me.

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Speaker 5: But I'm also driven by not being backed. So it's

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Speaker 5: I'm on, I'm on two sides of the story here,

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Speaker 5: but you know, input on in that crucial game and

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Speaker 5: it's a big game, you know, And sharing that with

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Speaker 5: Katrina Gore it was pretty special. It's something that I

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Speaker 5: never well, I could have only dreamed of. I never

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Speaker 5: You always have doubt as a player. You never know

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Speaker 5: if you're going to quite get there. You always hope

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Speaker 5: you will, so, you know, to really feel like I've

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Speaker 5: made it, But for me, it wasn't enough. Like most

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Speaker 5: people would be so happy at that moment, but it

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Speaker 5: actually drove me a little bit to insanity.

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Speaker 3: I wanted more.

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Speaker 5: I wanted to start matches, I wanted to build caps,

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Speaker 5: I wanted to score goals. My satisfactory level is always

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Speaker 5: so low. I'm always pushing for higher, for greater, So

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Speaker 5: it drove me, you know. It's It's one thing I

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Speaker 5: always say to these two players who are aspiring to

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Speaker 5: be Matilda's It's one thing to get into the national team,

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Speaker 5: but it takes another level to stay there. And I've

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Speaker 5: been able to stay there for eleven years. And even

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Speaker 5: though I've three injury, I've missed the World Cup, which

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Speaker 5: was you know, life changing for everyone, and now with injury,

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Speaker 5: I'm blown up short against with this Olympics. I've still

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Speaker 5: managed to go to a World Cup and Olympics, which

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Speaker 5: is pretty special, but I'm still unsatisfied. Which is crazy

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Speaker 5: to some people, but I just I just think there's

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Speaker 5: another level for me out there.

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Speaker 4: I'm really interested by this concept of like that idea

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Speaker 4: of when the coach puts you on they are believing

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Speaker 4: in you, right they are making a decision to say, hey,

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Speaker 4: I'm backing you right now, I've seen in you what

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Speaker 4: I need to see to back you and put you

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Speaker 4: out on the ground. And I think as athletes, a

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Speaker 4: lot of the time we get like in those big moments,

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Speaker 4: you can so easily kind of go into your shell,

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Speaker 4: like how am I going to perform?

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Speaker 2: What am I going to do here?

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Speaker 4: And I really like this objective perspective of like, hey,

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Speaker 4: the coach has seen enough in me to have faith

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Speaker 4: to put me out there, so I must be doing

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Speaker 4: something right.

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Speaker 5: Absolutely, I've got a great story on this which just

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Speaker 5: ticks all the boxes with that. So my first World Cup,

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Speaker 5: we had Aunte Milichic and you know, he he sets

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Speaker 5: the standard so high. His professional limit professionalism is world class,

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Speaker 5: something I've never experienced before personally as a player. And

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Speaker 5: you know, I got selected for my first World Cup.

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Speaker 5: So there's tears, there's joy, I'm proud, I'm excited, I

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Speaker 5: feel like.

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Speaker 3: I'm in good form.

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Speaker 5: And we play Italy game one, so we're in the match.

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Speaker 5: There's obviously three games for the group. Now we play Italy.

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Speaker 5: I don't come on at all, not a single minute.

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Speaker 5: So my world comes crashing down. I am like just

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Speaker 5: feeling deflated. I thought I was in a better spot.

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Speaker 5: I thought I was at the top of his you know,

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Speaker 5: you know, I thought he believed in me. I'm having

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Speaker 5: these doubts. We lose that game, which was crazy. We

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Speaker 5: then had to play Brazil and this was the most

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Speaker 5: important match.

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Speaker 3: If we don't win this match, we're.

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Speaker 5: Not It's impossible to get through the group. So this

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00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:56,080
Speaker 5: was a do or die game. He puts his arm

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Speaker 5: around me the day before the Brazil game, before he's

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Speaker 5: chosen the squad, and he said, you know why you

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Speaker 5: didn't play that game against Italy And I said no,

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Speaker 5: but you know, I'm you know, I'm not feeling good

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Speaker 5: about it. And he said, well, get that out of

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Speaker 5: the way, because you're starting against Brazil and we need

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Speaker 5: to win against Brazil. And I'm playing my best team

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Speaker 5: against Brazil, and like, I'm actually getting I'm getting goosebu.

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Speaker 3: I'm thinking about it.

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Speaker 5: Because that gave that told me everything I needed to hear,

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Speaker 5: and it's players that you know you're in that moment,

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Speaker 5: I ripped myself off and I thought, you know, maybe

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Speaker 5: he doesn't believe in me, maybe I'm not good enough

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Speaker 5: to be here. But to hear that from him, that hey,

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Speaker 5: you're actually I've kept you out of that one, but

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Speaker 5: it's not because you aren't good enough, because I've kept

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Speaker 5: you for this, which is our most important game, and

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Speaker 5: it's now I must win.

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Speaker 3: And we win that game.

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Speaker 5: Three two, and we were down to nil, so you know,

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Speaker 5: and you know, no one will know, but I was

357
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Speaker 5: part of my French but I was shipping myself and

358
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Speaker 5: throwing up because I was so I had so much

359
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Speaker 5: anxiety and it was so hot I think I had

360
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Speaker 5: heat stroke.

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Speaker 3: But for the two days straight before.

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Speaker 5: That match, I was completely depleted on what was the

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Speaker 5: most important game of my life.

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Speaker 3: And career, and I didn't want to let him down.

365
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Speaker 3: And we won that game three too.

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Speaker 5: So that was a real pivotal time in my career

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Speaker 5: to hear something so influential from a coach and to

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Speaker 5: also go back to my roots and what I believe

369
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Speaker 5: in is to never stop believing in yourself, even though

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Speaker 5: in that moment I felt my world was crashing down

371
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Speaker 5: off the game one, but in the scheme of things.

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Speaker 1: It wasn't.

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Speaker 2: Of another podcast.

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Speaker 4: I kind of like go along like chronological order, and

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Speaker 4: like chat about when this happened. But there's so many

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Speaker 4: themes in your life. I don't know, there's so many

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Speaker 4: cool things coming out of these stories that I just

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Speaker 4: am keen to unpack. But this concept of actually having

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Speaker 4: the conversation with the coach, right, like you said, I

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Speaker 4: don't know why I didn't play, but I was not

381
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Speaker 4: very happy about it. Like I'm so big on encouraging,

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Speaker 4: particularly younger athletes as they come into elite environments, to

383
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Speaker 4: learn how to have hard conversations, which is a really

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Speaker 4: overwhelming thing to do, particularly in the early stages. But

385
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Speaker 4: if you don't have a conversation with your coach or

386
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Speaker 4: whoever it is making these selection decisions, like you did,

387
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Speaker 4: you start telling yourself this story in your head of like, oh,

388
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Speaker 4: I must not be good enough or he thinks I'm

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Speaker 4: not good enough.

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Speaker 5: I mean, I've made this mistake before. There was a

391
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Speaker 5: period of time where I wasn't playing as much, and

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Speaker 5: so in my mind, I've created a whole selection of doubt,

393
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Speaker 5: whereas what I should have done is gone straight to

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Speaker 5: the coach.

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Speaker 3: And what is it that you need from me to

396
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Speaker 3: get that game time?

397
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Speaker 5: Because now for the last few camps, I've just written

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Speaker 5: myself off.

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Speaker 3: And like, even though it was a really.

400
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Speaker 5: Difficult conversation with him, and you know it was actually

401
00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:51,280
Speaker 5: soul crushing, I needed to hear the truth because sometimes

402
00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:53,840
Speaker 5: getting that feedback, whether it's good or bad, you just

403
00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:57,520
Speaker 5: need feedback. It's important for every athlete in all all

404
00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:00,720
Speaker 5: walks of life and all sports. So in that moment,

405
00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:03,000
Speaker 5: his feedback was I'm not up to the standard that

406
00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:03,840
Speaker 5: he needs me to be.

407
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Speaker 3: So what that did is it brought me down a

408
00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:06,280
Speaker 3: peg and it made me.

409
00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:09,919
Speaker 5: Realize, Okay, I don't need to lose belief in myself,

410
00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:11,800
Speaker 5: but I'm maybe I'm not at the maybe I'm not

411
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Speaker 5: at the level right now, I'm.

412
00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:14,960
Speaker 3: Still in here, so he still believes in me. I

413
00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:15,800
Speaker 3: need to respect that.

414
00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:19,119
Speaker 5: But now I need to up my game again because

415
00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:21,360
Speaker 5: and I don't want to use the word complacent because

416
00:19:21,359 --> 00:19:24,159
Speaker 5: I've never been complacent in my life, but maybe everyone

417
00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:26,679
Speaker 5: else has just stepped it up and I'm falling short.

418
00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:29,879
Speaker 5: So feedback is always good to get and it's better

419
00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:32,320
Speaker 5: to ask that earlier rather than later. And it's not

420
00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:35,000
Speaker 5: about saying, hey, coach, put me and I deserve it, don't.

421
00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:38,560
Speaker 5: I don't ever think I deserve something more than someone else.

422
00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:40,640
Speaker 5: I just want to I just want to be doing

423
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Speaker 5: enough that he has no choice but to play me

424
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Speaker 5: because I am the person for the job.

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Speaker 3: So that's the belief that I have.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, absolutely, And I think as we're talking about it,

427
00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:53,560
Speaker 4: it's kind of like it moves from being a subjective

428
00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:55,439
Speaker 4: thing where you feel like it might be about like

429
00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:58,000
Speaker 4: opinion and things like that or what you're telling yourself,

430
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Speaker 4: to becoming putting pressure on the coach to make it

431
00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:03,760
Speaker 4: an objective decision where they say to you, in order

432
00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:06,959
Speaker 4: to be playing or in order to be in my squad,

433
00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:09,359
Speaker 4: you need to be doing X, y Z better. And

434
00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:11,680
Speaker 4: then if you have something that's objective to go away

435
00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:13,520
Speaker 4: and work on, and then you can go back and say,

436
00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:16,240
Speaker 4: I've done these things, like pressures on you now to

437
00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:17,400
Speaker 4: kind of live up to your.

438
00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:19,080
Speaker 2: Word in a sense rather than it being all on

439
00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:19,800
Speaker 2: you as a player.

440
00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:22,800
Speaker 5: That's right, And you know, I'll touch on that because

441
00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:25,920
Speaker 5: sometimes you can actually go away and do X y Z,

442
00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:28,760
Speaker 5: and the coach may still not reward you. And now

443
00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:31,359
Speaker 5: that's happened to me in the past. And that's when

444
00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:35,040
Speaker 5: it's so important, especially at a link level, that you

445
00:20:35,119 --> 00:20:38,439
Speaker 5: don't lose sight in your value because there's going to

446
00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:40,600
Speaker 5: be a point where you've ticked all the boxes for them,

447
00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:42,840
Speaker 5: you've gone away and you've done everything, and you feel

448
00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:46,600
Speaker 5: so deserving and it's heartbreak, and you need to know

449
00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:51,320
Speaker 5: that there's there's the universe for some reason just doesn't

450
00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:52,800
Speaker 5: want to give you what you want right now and

451
00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:55,400
Speaker 5: what you deserve, and you've got to respect the coach's decision.

452
00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:59,080
Speaker 5: And I'll never be a player that goes back and says, well,

453
00:20:59,119 --> 00:21:01,400
Speaker 5: I did this and I'm scoring these amount of goals

454
00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:04,359
Speaker 5: and this is unfair. I just want to keep proving

455
00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:07,960
Speaker 5: and keep developing because I know my time will come.

456
00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:11,920
Speaker 5: And it's a never stop believing routine that you need

457
00:21:11,960 --> 00:21:14,480
Speaker 5: to just be reminding yourself because things aren't going to

458
00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:16,280
Speaker 5: go your way sometimes even when you feel like you

459
00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:16,840
Speaker 5: deserve it.

460
00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:21,800
Speaker 4: Absolutely, it's unfortunately lesson. I think both you and I

461
00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:25,080
Speaker 4: have had to learn through sport. It's pretty brutal that

462
00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:27,760
Speaker 4: you don't you don't always get what you deserve and

463
00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:32,000
Speaker 4: it can be so cruel, right Like on that topic,

464
00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:34,040
Speaker 4: you touched on the fact that you missed out on

465
00:21:34,119 --> 00:21:37,280
Speaker 4: the twenty twenty three World Cup on home soil due

466
00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:37,920
Speaker 4: to injury.

467
00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:39,400
Speaker 2: How did that feel for you?

468
00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:45,159
Speaker 3: It was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to

469
00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:45,600
Speaker 3: go through.

470
00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:48,399
Speaker 5: And I think some people might think that's like, you know,

471
00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:51,399
Speaker 5: I'm over exaggerating, but for me personally, it was the

472
00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:54,520
Speaker 5: It would have been the pinnacle of my career. And yes,

473
00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:56,879
Speaker 5: I've been to another World Cup, but you can't replace

474
00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:00,240
Speaker 5: a home World Cup, right, And so it was a emotion,

475
00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:05,439
Speaker 5: the toughest thing I've ever had to navigate through. And

476
00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:08,400
Speaker 5: that's when I realized how many good people I had

477
00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:10,280
Speaker 5: around me that care about me so much.

478
00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:13,960
Speaker 3: I was able to peel some layers back of what's important.

479
00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:18,920
Speaker 5: And really, I guess I had to find myself in

480
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:23,080
Speaker 5: that moment really quickly because I was feeling really defeated,

481
00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:27,479
Speaker 5: really deflated. But also the biggest lesson I learned throughout

482
00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:32,520
Speaker 5: that period, and you know, the timing of what happened

483
00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:34,800
Speaker 5: before that World Cup that I couldn't get back in time,

484
00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:37,960
Speaker 5: and I'm wondering I still to this day, I still

485
00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:41,159
Speaker 5: wonder why that tackle or why did I move that

486
00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:44,119
Speaker 5: into that drill and go into that challenge, and why

487
00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:47,720
Speaker 5: did all these things happen? And you're navigating your mind

488
00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:49,520
Speaker 5: what you could have done different and how could you

489
00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:52,360
Speaker 5: have avoided that? But for some reason that was meant

490
00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:54,840
Speaker 5: to happen. For some reason, I'm not meant to be there,

491
00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:58,840
Speaker 5: and letting go of that is really really difficult. But

492
00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:02,000
Speaker 5: why I've been out to open up all these amazing

493
00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:05,520
Speaker 5: opportunities in my life is because in that time of hurt,

494
00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:09,040
Speaker 5: but Chloe and I were really suffering together, I was

495
00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:10,879
Speaker 5: still able to find a way to say yes to

496
00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:13,119
Speaker 5: opportunities that I would never be able to say yes too.

497
00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:17,880
Speaker 3: And you know, in that moment, a lot of people.

498
00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:21,119
Speaker 5: When you've got pretty much was the worst news of

499
00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:22,840
Speaker 5: my life that I won't be going.

500
00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:26,119
Speaker 3: You know, I wanted to go home.

501
00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:29,600
Speaker 5: Cry, and I did all of that, but I chose

502
00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:31,639
Speaker 5: not to stay there. So I had my moment, but

503
00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:33,360
Speaker 5: then I chose to bounce back and like, what can

504
00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:34,760
Speaker 5: I do? How can I still be a part of

505
00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:38,440
Speaker 5: this game, whether it's the commentating side of things, whether

506
00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:41,840
Speaker 5: it's the other media opportunities that opened up and all

507
00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:44,640
Speaker 5: of these things, and that helped me really build resilience through.

508
00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:45,240
Speaker 3: A time of hurt.

509
00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:47,960
Speaker 5: And how can I show my support to these girls

510
00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:50,240
Speaker 5: who are like family to me. I would kill to

511
00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:52,280
Speaker 5: be out there with them, but how can I show

512
00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,720
Speaker 5: my support that I'm still with them outside of the pitch.

513
00:23:57,200 --> 00:23:59,760
Speaker 5: So you know, it was it was a really it

514
00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:04,040
Speaker 5: was a really troubling and also beautiful time in my

515
00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:06,480
Speaker 5: life all in one. So hard to explain and so

516
00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:09,800
Speaker 5: hard to articulate, but it was possibly the worst and

517
00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:12,080
Speaker 5: the best time in my life.

518
00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:13,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, it makes sense.

519
00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:17,080
Speaker 4: And when we talk about like things that you feel

520
00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:19,600
Speaker 4: like you deserve in a way, like you were one

521
00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:21,720
Speaker 4: of those players. Obviously there were incredible women who came

522
00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:23,920
Speaker 4: before you, and I imagine some of those people who

523
00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:26,240
Speaker 4: were at that Matilda's camp when you're in high school,

524
00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:28,960
Speaker 4: but you were kind of one of those footballers who

525
00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:33,560
Speaker 4: who played when there wasn't these huge crowds and didn't

526
00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:35,200
Speaker 4: get paid a lot of money and didn't have these

527
00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:38,120
Speaker 4: cbas in place that brought.

528
00:24:38,119 --> 00:24:39,720
Speaker 2: What there is now for these players.

529
00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:43,159
Speaker 4: So I imagine that brought another layer of like you

530
00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:45,520
Speaker 4: go through all the hard stuff and that would have

531
00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:48,080
Speaker 4: been a beautiful reward at the end, that home World Cup.

532
00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:50,880
Speaker 3: Oh it was, you know, it was a pinchery moment.

533
00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:52,639
Speaker 5: I remember I was playing for Buying Munich at the

534
00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:54,080
Speaker 5: time when I found out.

535
00:24:54,119 --> 00:24:55,840
Speaker 3: I was actually I had an off.

536
00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:57,960
Speaker 5: Day and I was doing some running and I got

537
00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:00,240
Speaker 5: the notification that would secure the World Cup and I

538
00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:03,159
Speaker 5: just remember bawling my eyes out in happiness. I cannot

539
00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:04,800
Speaker 5: believe that I have the opportunity to be a part

540
00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:07,760
Speaker 5: of a home World Cup. And you know what's happened

541
00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:12,439
Speaker 5: through this World Cup. It's so hard to put into worlds,

542
00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:15,159
Speaker 5: but it into words, but it changed the nation, like

543
00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:18,560
Speaker 5: everyone in Australia fell in love with the like the

544
00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:22,000
Speaker 5: women's football and the Matilda's and that for me is

545
00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:25,000
Speaker 5: just so so important as a footballer because me and

546
00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:26,800
Speaker 5: the players before me, we've all worked for.

547
00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:27,720
Speaker 3: It to get to this point.

548
00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:30,480
Speaker 5: And even though like I'm a few years away from retirement,

549
00:25:31,119 --> 00:25:34,240
Speaker 5: I'm still putting my mark on so the next generation

550
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:37,160
Speaker 5: get to enjoy this beautiful game at the highest level.

551
00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:39,200
Speaker 5: And I want there to be no ceiling for these

552
00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:41,960
Speaker 5: young female footballers. I want them to not have to

553
00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:44,280
Speaker 5: think about studying or having jobs, Like I want them

554
00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:47,000
Speaker 5: to think I can be a professional female footballer and

555
00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:50,280
Speaker 5: earn a living. So I'm now trying to transition more

556
00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:53,040
Speaker 5: into like thinking more like a leadership or like I'm

557
00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:55,679
Speaker 5: now here to serve a bigger purpose, and that is

558
00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:57,639
Speaker 5: make my mark on football and keep it at this

559
00:25:57,720 --> 00:25:58,240
Speaker 5: high level.

560
00:25:58,240 --> 00:25:59,880
Speaker 3: And you know, during this World.

561
00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:03,639
Speaker 5: Cup, Chloe and I had to have a uphoric moment

562
00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:06,239
Speaker 5: and that's why we started this Future Baller Clinic, and

563
00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:08,119
Speaker 5: it was to give back to these young girls who

564
00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:11,000
Speaker 5: will dream of being Matilda's or dream of making an

565
00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:13,760
Speaker 5: MPR club, or dream of making you know.

566
00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:16,520
Speaker 3: The team, just the football team in school.

567
00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:20,240
Speaker 5: Like we want to showcase that these girls, this is

568
00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:21,800
Speaker 5: what it takes to get to the top, and this

569
00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:23,919
Speaker 5: is how hard it is to stay there. And we

570
00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:26,959
Speaker 5: want to share our experience, share our journey with them

571
00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:29,960
Speaker 5: and inspire these young girls that if you believe in yourself,

572
00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,399
Speaker 5: you can actually get to anywhere you want to get to. So,

573
00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:36,760
Speaker 5: you know, I had so much growth and learning and

574
00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:40,400
Speaker 5: understanding through what that World Cup gave to me, even

575
00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:41,520
Speaker 5: though I wasn't on the pitch.

576
00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:44,560
Speaker 4: Yeah, I wanted to touch on future ballers. What do

577
00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:47,000
Speaker 4: you think what are some things that you want to

578
00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:50,040
Speaker 4: impart to the younger generation, But even in your role

579
00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:53,760
Speaker 4: as a current player in a leadership sense, Yeah.

580
00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:55,879
Speaker 3: For me, the biggest thing, it's always about being a

581
00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:56,480
Speaker 3: good person.

582
00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:00,600
Speaker 5: I know, you know that might sound cliche, but throughout

583
00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:03,080
Speaker 5: my whole entire career, no matter how much I've excelled

584
00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:05,960
Speaker 5: or underachieved or overachieved, I've always I've always kept the

585
00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:09,240
Speaker 5: same morals. I've always been the same nurturing person. Every

586
00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:11,240
Speaker 5: single player that's come into the Matilda's I've put my

587
00:27:11,359 --> 00:27:14,320
Speaker 5: arm around them. Any single person that misses out on

588
00:27:14,359 --> 00:27:17,760
Speaker 5: a camp, I've messaged them like I've been that.

589
00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:20,920
Speaker 3: Level all the time. And so I want to teach

590
00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:21,720
Speaker 3: these young girls.

591
00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:23,320
Speaker 5: I want to give them a master class of like,

592
00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:26,000
Speaker 5: before you can become a good footballer, you need to

593
00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:27,000
Speaker 5: become a good person.

594
00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:28,000
Speaker 3: Because if I'm.

595
00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:31,000
Speaker 5: A coach, I don't want any people in my team,

596
00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:32,960
Speaker 5: no matter how talented you are, if you don't have

597
00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:35,600
Speaker 5: good morals and you're not a good person. And it's

598
00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:37,800
Speaker 5: just so infectious. I'll only ever play for a coach

599
00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:39,719
Speaker 5: if they have if they have if they pick their

600
00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:42,360
Speaker 5: team according to that, And it's the reason I've been

601
00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:46,760
Speaker 5: so successful at Melbourne Victory. Jeff always prides himself on

602
00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:49,200
Speaker 5: picking a team around the types of people and less

603
00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:50,680
Speaker 5: around the types of football.

604
00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:52,960
Speaker 3: As they are, and that's really really important to me.

605
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:56,840
Speaker 5: And I've transitioned more into that mentality and spreading that

606
00:27:56,880 --> 00:27:59,720
Speaker 5: awareness to all of these young kids. And that's really

607
00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:02,600
Speaker 5: what we want to showcase at this future ball of clinic.

608
00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:05,720
Speaker 5: Chloyin and I are so passionate because not only have

609
00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:08,760
Speaker 5: we had such an up and down journey, I need

610
00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:11,080
Speaker 5: these girls and the parents and know the parents, the

611
00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:13,639
Speaker 5: ones who are sacrificing, you know, driving their kids, believing

612
00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:16,200
Speaker 5: in their kids, hoping they make it. But the parents

613
00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:19,240
Speaker 5: also need to hear that, like it's okay if your

614
00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:21,440
Speaker 5: girls are going through these things like this self doubt.

615
00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:23,880
Speaker 3: I don't believe in myself. I'm not good enough.

616
00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:26,800
Speaker 5: Am I ever going to get there? I want them

617
00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:29,080
Speaker 5: to know, like, you can get there? Because we had

618
00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:32,880
Speaker 5: all those self We had self doubt. There was time

619
00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:34,679
Speaker 5: that we didn't believe in ourselves. There were times that

620
00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:36,920
Speaker 5: we didn't make tournaments, there was times that we didn't

621
00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:39,320
Speaker 5: get called into camps. There's times that we sat on

622
00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:42,120
Speaker 5: the bench and never got on the field, like, these

623
00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:44,360
Speaker 5: are all part of a process, and these are all

624
00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:47,280
Speaker 5: things that you live and learn, and I want to

625
00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:52,280
Speaker 5: share that knowledge with these young girls and inspire them

626
00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:56,360
Speaker 5: through I guess work rate and being a good human being.

627
00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:58,560
Speaker 5: So that is really like the pinnacle of what we

628
00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:01,080
Speaker 5: want this clinic to embody is Chloe and I are

629
00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:05,600
Speaker 5: just so passionate about instilling confidence in these young girls

630
00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:11,360
Speaker 5: because with this generation, sadly and unfortunately like it is tough.

631
00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:14,080
Speaker 3: It is really tough, and a lot of it is here.

632
00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:15,560
Speaker 3: It's not about the ability.

633
00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:17,720
Speaker 5: A lot of it is honestly here, and it's something

634
00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:19,920
Speaker 5: I've struggled with for a really long time and I'm

635
00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:21,040
Speaker 5: still not a master of it.

636
00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:21,840
Speaker 3: My mentality.

637
00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:26,080
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's yeah, there's there's so much in that. I

638
00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:29,200
Speaker 4: love that and I'm just thinking about this in advance.

639
00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:32,360
Speaker 4: I feel like this episode, like young people need to

640
00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:35,040
Speaker 4: be listening to what you were saying and getting involved

641
00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:36,600
Speaker 4: with future Ball is Like, I think it's such an

642
00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:41,000
Speaker 4: incredible concept, that idea of it's not always going to

643
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:44,800
Speaker 4: be smooth sailing. We see the public sees these glory

644
00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:47,360
Speaker 4: moments and the success and the amazing things, but I

645
00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:50,120
Speaker 4: think it's so so important to be teaching these young

646
00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:52,600
Speaker 4: people that it's actually okay to have the failures and

647
00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:54,000
Speaker 4: the hardships along the way too.

648
00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:57,760
Speaker 3: Absolutely. Absolutely.

649
00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:00,240
Speaker 5: I mean I'll use Sam Kurr as an example because

650
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:02,000
Speaker 5: I've played with her for such a long time, but

651
00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:05,320
Speaker 5: she did her acl quite a long time ago. But

652
00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:09,160
Speaker 5: from that rehab, she became the Sam cur that everyone knows.

653
00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:11,920
Speaker 5: So from what was such a low point, Sam Curse

654
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:14,720
Speaker 5: football went like that. And she's had dips here and

655
00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:17,120
Speaker 5: there because it's impossible to be in goal scoring film

656
00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:17,760
Speaker 5: all the time.

657
00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:19,200
Speaker 3: She's pretty damn good at it.

658
00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:22,400
Speaker 5: She's pretty consistent, but I think everyone just assumes that

659
00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:24,520
Speaker 5: it's like so easy to stay here, so.

660
00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:25,560
Speaker 3: Easy to keep scoring.

661
00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:29,360
Speaker 5: And look now she's done her knee again, right, and

662
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:31,520
Speaker 5: now she'll miss an Olympics and she's the captain and

663
00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:36,480
Speaker 5: I guess the face of our Matilda's team.

664
00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:38,000
Speaker 3: And you know it's it's not.

665
00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:41,520
Speaker 5: Everyone is invincible and people have struggles, but through setbacks

666
00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:44,959
Speaker 5: and failure, people have dramatic rises if you let it.

667
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:49,680
Speaker 5: So it's about being open to what's possible post injury

668
00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:51,760
Speaker 5: or post setback, because a lot of people choose to

669
00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:55,440
Speaker 5: stay in that negative space and you know, for me

670
00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:59,240
Speaker 5: and this is unfair and that sucks. And Sam, in

671
00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:03,040
Speaker 5: that example, became like a well world class footballer. She

672
00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:05,160
Speaker 5: became the same curve that everyone knows. And that was

673
00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:08,480
Speaker 5: straight after her first ACL injury. So I think my

674
00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:11,560
Speaker 5: message to all these young girls that it is stepbacks

675
00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:14,240
Speaker 5: and failures are so important. If you don't have anywhere,

676
00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:15,920
Speaker 5: you will never get to where you want to get to.

677
00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:18,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, couldn't agree more.

678
00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:21,440
Speaker 5: They've been instrumental in my career, and it's yeah, and

679
00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:23,760
Speaker 5: it's hard to It's hard in that moment because you're

680
00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:26,120
Speaker 5: in the heathen moment and you think you're suffering, and

681
00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:31,440
Speaker 5: it is very difficult. But use them as a stepping stone.

682
00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:34,840
Speaker 5: Do you go in one level, up one further. It's

683
00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:37,320
Speaker 5: it's incredible what you can do once you know the

684
00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:37,920
Speaker 5: power of that.

685
00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:44,040
Speaker 4: How have you found your transition into commentary punditory roles.

686
00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:47,240
Speaker 3: Yeah, look, I never thought I would be doing it.

687
00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:48,680
Speaker 3: I'm not gonna lie.

688
00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:51,560
Speaker 5: I'd much rather be lacing up the footy boots and

689
00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:56,040
Speaker 5: on the pitch, crossing, setting up goals, scoring goals. You know,

690
00:31:56,160 --> 00:32:02,280
Speaker 5: I love competition, but you know that it's just what

691
00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:04,440
Speaker 5: the life had in store for me at that moment,

692
00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:05,800
Speaker 5: and to be honest, I loved it.

693
00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:07,760
Speaker 3: I really enjoyed it. Would I give up football for

694
00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:08,239
Speaker 3: it right now?

695
00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:08,480
Speaker 1: No?

696
00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:12,560
Speaker 5: Could I see myself transitioning and doubling in commentary, Yes,

697
00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:16,280
Speaker 5: because part of me just knows I'll do anything to

698
00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:18,720
Speaker 5: stay attached to this game because I love football so much,

699
00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:21,600
Speaker 5: and you know, it helps with my knowledge and it

700
00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:24,720
Speaker 5: helps me express and articulate what I know about the game.

701
00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:26,520
Speaker 5: And because I know the players so well, it's so

702
00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:28,920
Speaker 5: easy to talk about and I'm so passionate about it.

703
00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:33,280
Speaker 5: And in the World Cup it was important because I

704
00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:35,280
Speaker 5: wanted to give them matildas what they deserve from a

705
00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:38,480
Speaker 5: commentary point of view. But it's a hard it's a

706
00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:40,840
Speaker 5: hard line because you sometimes you know too much and

707
00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:44,520
Speaker 5: you have to be careful and sometimes you know, you know.

708
00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:45,640
Speaker 3: You're good friends with those girls.

709
00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:49,040
Speaker 5: So it's about finding the line and giving giving away

710
00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:52,360
Speaker 5: a lot without giving away too much. But I'm actually

711
00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:54,800
Speaker 5: doing a couple of co commentary gigs for the Australian

712
00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:58,320
Speaker 5: Cup with the men's which is awesome, So I'm really

713
00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:01,200
Speaker 5: I've done one before, so I'll actually be on the

714
00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:01,920
Speaker 5: mic for that one.

715
00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:04,440
Speaker 3: Instead of a panel, So yeah, WI should be a

716
00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:05,880
Speaker 3: lot for that. I'm looking forward to it.

717
00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:10,160
Speaker 4: Yeah, amazing, looking forward to that to watching You're also

718
00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:13,800
Speaker 4: a Monash IVF ambassador. What has that journey been like

719
00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:14,240
Speaker 4: for you?

720
00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:18,400
Speaker 5: To be honest, it's been a whirlwind because for the

721
00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:21,800
Speaker 5: longest time I've been thinking about having kids with Speaker,

722
00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:24,959
Speaker 5: and you know, obviously I'm really really blessed she's chosen

723
00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:27,800
Speaker 5: to carry so I can keep It's like every footballer,

724
00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:31,520
Speaker 5: we're so selfish, right, I can keep playing at this

725
00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:33,960
Speaker 5: high level as for as long as I can because

726
00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:36,200
Speaker 5: the football windows are so short, right, you only have

727
00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:38,640
Speaker 5: a certain amount of time. So you know, we've just

728
00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:41,480
Speaker 5: started looking into that journey and you know, it's been

729
00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:45,880
Speaker 5: really eye opening. I've cried a lot. I've been frustrated

730
00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:49,440
Speaker 5: a lot. There's so many loopholes to jump through, but

731
00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:55,000
Speaker 5: Monash have been so supportive, so direct, so informative.

732
00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:57,160
Speaker 3: I'm learning so much. I still don't know it all.

733
00:33:57,280 --> 00:33:59,840
Speaker 5: I'm still I feel like sometimes I'm so blind, so

734
00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:01,760
Speaker 5: like how do I not know all of this? And

735
00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:06,320
Speaker 5: there's just so much to go through. But having a

736
00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:11,160
Speaker 5: company that supports you has been has taken a lot

737
00:34:11,160 --> 00:34:14,799
Speaker 5: of stress off my back, so I can just concentrate

738
00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:18,680
Speaker 5: on football. But yeah, you know, I'm transitioning into a

739
00:34:18,680 --> 00:34:21,719
Speaker 5: different part of my life and I'm super excited to

740
00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:22,840
Speaker 5: be doing.

741
00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:24,839
Speaker 3: That with on Ash.

742
00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:25,120
Speaker 2: Yeah.

743
00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:27,840
Speaker 4: Absolutely, And I think one of the elements is obviously

744
00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:29,799
Speaker 4: the fertility side of things, but I think even the

745
00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:32,399
Speaker 4: education side of it as well for athletes. I think

746
00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:35,480
Speaker 4: for so many female athletes there hasn't been this access

747
00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:37,400
Speaker 4: to information that you talked about the fact there's so

748
00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:39,759
Speaker 4: many things that you didn't know and still don't know,

749
00:34:40,560 --> 00:34:44,319
Speaker 4: and getting that balance of like understanding how can I

750
00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:46,400
Speaker 4: prepare myself? What do I need to know about? Like

751
00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:49,360
Speaker 4: looking at women's health as a whole, it's this huge

752
00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:50,240
Speaker 4: beast right.

753
00:34:51,239 --> 00:34:53,120
Speaker 5: And to be honest to mek Er and I've spoken

754
00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:57,120
Speaker 5: about it a lot. We never imagine sharing our journey

755
00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:01,319
Speaker 5: publicly ever, but we've I had so many friends who

756
00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:04,640
Speaker 5: have spent, you know, so much money.

757
00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:08,399
Speaker 3: And have spent so many years like.

758
00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:13,479
Speaker 5: Just completely defeated and deflated and just so upset through

759
00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:16,880
Speaker 5: this process and we never knew anything about it. So

760
00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:18,480
Speaker 5: if I can just share a little bit of an

761
00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:24,759
Speaker 5: insight and a little bit of an inspiring story and showcase.

762
00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:27,920
Speaker 5: I guess, not so much the protocol, but the journey,

763
00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:31,719
Speaker 5: just things that I didn't know, and if I had

764
00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:33,480
Speaker 5: listened to somebody's journey, maybe that.

765
00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:34,759
Speaker 3: Would alleviate stress from me.

766
00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:37,920
Speaker 5: So that's really what the message is, and that's what

767
00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:40,000
Speaker 5: we're really hoping to do, is even though it's really

768
00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:42,160
Speaker 5: probably going to be difficult for us to talk about

769
00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:48,640
Speaker 5: because there has already been so many blindsiding moments. So

770
00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:55,160
Speaker 5: I'm excited and scared to showcase the journey, but I'm

771
00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:57,759
Speaker 5: really I'm really happy that we're doing it because there's

772
00:35:57,800 --> 00:36:01,279
Speaker 5: so many people out there that can bend from this information,

773
00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:03,680
Speaker 5: and that's really what we're trying to do here.

774
00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:07,680
Speaker 4: A question that I've been asking athletes on the podcast

775
00:36:07,920 --> 00:36:10,600
Speaker 4: is what is your favorite failure?

776
00:36:11,120 --> 00:36:15,839
Speaker 5: Oh my gosh, it's an easy one, actually, and it's

777
00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:17,160
Speaker 5: hard one.

778
00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:17,880
Speaker 3: All in one.

779
00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:21,400
Speaker 5: In the quarter finals of the World Cup, I was

780
00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:24,200
Speaker 5: second to take the penalty for the penalty shootout. Sam

781
00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:27,480
Speaker 5: missed the first one and I missed the second one,

782
00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:29,720
Speaker 5: And all I know is I've never missed a penalty

783
00:36:29,719 --> 00:36:34,400
Speaker 5: in my career, and throughout our training block and throughout everything,

784
00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:38,480
Speaker 5: all the high pressure penalties I've ever taken and throughout

785
00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:41,160
Speaker 5: the whole World Cup training block, I never missed one.

786
00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:44,080
Speaker 5: I've never been more confident and I missed one and

787
00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:48,440
Speaker 5: what was the most pivotal, important, crucial time of women's

788
00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:51,520
Speaker 5: football to progress to the next stage. And I can't

789
00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:54,759
Speaker 5: explain to you how I felt in that moment, but

790
00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:57,560
Speaker 5: the reason why it was the biggest failure. It's not

791
00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:00,879
Speaker 5: only because we didn't progress and the weight I felt

792
00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:03,279
Speaker 5: on my shoulders and how heartbroken I felt that I

793
00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:07,160
Speaker 5: had let everyone down. It was my reaction after is

794
00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:10,120
Speaker 5: all I wanted to do the next day was get

795
00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:14,560
Speaker 5: into another high pressure situation and take another penalty. And

796
00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:17,440
Speaker 5: most people are petrified of that, but all I wanted

797
00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:20,960
Speaker 5: to do was take another one, just to reassure myself

798
00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:22,799
Speaker 5: that no, I can do.

799
00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:23,960
Speaker 3: I can take.

800
00:37:24,320 --> 00:37:27,399
Speaker 5: Penalties at high pressure situations, and I can score from

801
00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:29,959
Speaker 5: the spot, and I'm still good enough and this isn't

802
00:37:29,960 --> 00:37:34,279
Speaker 5: my fault. And things happen, and fellies happen, and setbacks,

803
00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:37,719
Speaker 5: setbacks occur, and I'm not gonna lie. It was a

804
00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:42,120
Speaker 5: really emotional time for me. But the next year in

805
00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:44,920
Speaker 5: that league, I took a couple of penalties and converted

806
00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:47,960
Speaker 5: them all and it was a real breakthrough moment for me,

807
00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:51,640
Speaker 5: and so yeah, that was one of my biggest failures

808
00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:55,640
Speaker 5: that turned into one of my biggest mindset shifts.

809
00:37:56,920 --> 00:37:59,960
Speaker 2: Who has had the biggest impact on you in your

810
00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:00,839
Speaker 2: career to date?

811
00:38:01,560 --> 00:38:03,080
Speaker 3: It's easy. There's two people.

812
00:38:03,160 --> 00:38:05,440
Speaker 5: So I'll talk about my dad first, because he was

813
00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:08,600
Speaker 5: the crazy, passionate father on the sidelines that wanted the

814
00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:11,839
Speaker 5: best for me, and at the time, I didn't like it,

815
00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:14,560
Speaker 5: and it was tough, and you know, it got to

816
00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:15,920
Speaker 5: the point where I didn't want him to come to

817
00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:18,160
Speaker 5: my games anymore. But I knew that he just he

818
00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:21,080
Speaker 5: saw greatness in me and he just believed in me

819
00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:22,959
Speaker 5: so much so that I have a lot of love

820
00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:25,080
Speaker 5: for my dad in that respect that.

821
00:38:24,960 --> 00:38:25,719
Speaker 3: He did push me.

822
00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:29,000
Speaker 5: He was a dad that would, you know, take me

823
00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:31,960
Speaker 5: to the men's football games on a Friday, Saturday Sunday

824
00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:33,520
Speaker 5: and we'd do toe punts at halftime.

825
00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:36,279
Speaker 3: You know, he was a great father growing up and

826
00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:37,160
Speaker 3: still is now.

827
00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:43,040
Speaker 5: But the most influential person is it's so easy. It's

828
00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:47,799
Speaker 5: my wife, Tamika. Been together for nine years now, and

829
00:38:47,880 --> 00:38:50,080
Speaker 5: she's the real reason why I believe in myself for

830
00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:52,799
Speaker 5: this day and why I've never given up even all

831
00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:58,640
Speaker 5: the hurdles that I've had throughout my Career's just She's

832
00:38:58,719 --> 00:39:00,959
Speaker 5: just given me a type of resilllians that I wasn't

833
00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:07,000
Speaker 5: able to figure out for myself. A lot of people

834
00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:10,439
Speaker 5: don't really know this, but when I when I wasn't

835
00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:14,160
Speaker 5: really making the Matilda's team at the start, she said

836
00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:16,799
Speaker 5: to me, like, why don't you just open up your gym.

837
00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:18,919
Speaker 5: That's what you're passionate about, Like do what you love.

838
00:39:18,960 --> 00:39:20,680
Speaker 5: And I promise you when you do what you love,

839
00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:24,280
Speaker 5: like good things will come. I opened up my gym.

840
00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:26,520
Speaker 5: I was playing a league. I was so happy at

841
00:39:26,520 --> 00:39:27,920
Speaker 5: the time, and then all of a sudden I got

842
00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:30,600
Speaker 5: the call up and I've been in the Matildas ever since.

843
00:39:30,719 --> 00:39:33,080
Speaker 5: And it's just it's just little moments like that, And

844
00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:37,800
Speaker 5: you know, she sacrificed everything in her whole entire career

845
00:39:38,520 --> 00:39:41,000
Speaker 5: to be with me, Like, let me take the overseas

846
00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:44,080
Speaker 5: opportunity that meant time apart, you know, nine months apart,

847
00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:49,440
Speaker 5: and you know every other every other year that opens

848
00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:52,319
Speaker 5: up an overseas opportunity. She says, You've got to do

849
00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:55,040
Speaker 5: it because this is this is what you want to do.

850
00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:56,839
Speaker 5: I know it makes you happy, and if you want

851
00:39:56,840 --> 00:39:58,239
Speaker 5: to get to where you want to go, you've got

852
00:39:58,239 --> 00:40:01,719
Speaker 5: to make these hard decisions and and go overseas and developed.

853
00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:04,440
Speaker 3: So like, let's just go through this long distance thing again.

854
00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:07,600
Speaker 5: So she's always just put me first, and she's always

855
00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:11,480
Speaker 5: just reassured belief in myself when times are tough. And yeah,

856
00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:14,360
Speaker 5: she's she's definitely been, you know, the backbone for me

857
00:40:15,239 --> 00:40:17,440
Speaker 5: throughout my career. And you know, she's still pushing me

858
00:40:17,480 --> 00:40:19,160
Speaker 5: to this day, even though sometimes I don't want to

859
00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:24,239
Speaker 5: hear it, but she just you know, she's she's still going,

860
00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:26,160
Speaker 5: she's still there in the background, and you know, it

861
00:40:26,200 --> 00:40:29,320
Speaker 5: makes me a better person and it definitely most certainly

862
00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:30,400
Speaker 5: makes me a better footballer.

863
00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:33,320
Speaker 2: I love. That's that's really really special.

864
00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:36,920
Speaker 4: Thank you so much for your time today and just

865
00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:39,120
Speaker 4: for your insights and stories and just some of the

866
00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:41,240
Speaker 4: things you've learned along the way. I think there's some

867
00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:44,320
Speaker 4: really incredible themes in there, and I've really really enjoyed

868
00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:46,520
Speaker 4: chatting to you, so thank you so much for your time.

869
00:40:47,120 --> 00:40:48,160
Speaker 3: No, it's been awesome.

870
00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:52,760
Speaker 5: Hopefully you know, I've shared some good insight and some messaging,

871
00:40:52,840 --> 00:40:54,240
Speaker 5: especially to these younger girls.

872
00:40:54,840 --> 00:40:56,880
Speaker 3: But it's been great. To have great to be on here.

873
00:40:56,880 --> 00:40:59,600
Speaker 2: I've really enjoyed it so thanks so much, Thanks so

874
00:40:59,680 --> 00:41:00,480
Speaker 2: much for listening.

875
00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:02,799
Speaker 4: If you got something out of this episode, I would

876
00:41:02,840 --> 00:41:04,960
Speaker 4: absolutely love it if you could send it on to

877
00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:09,000
Speaker 4: one person who you think might enjoy it. Otherwise, subscribe,

878
00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:11,120
Speaker 4: give us a review, and make sure you follow us

879
00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:13,960
Speaker 4: on Instagram at the Female Athlete Project to stay up

880
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Speaker 4: to date with podcast episodes, merch drops, and of course

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Speaker 4: news and stories about epic female athletes