Following The Matildas’ first World Cup victory last night over Ireland, Australians have erupted in pride over the astonishing athleticism of the team.
In front of a record 75,784 crowd, the Matildas scored a second half penalty courtesy of Steph Catley, maintaining the 1-0 lead till the game’s end.
However, commentator for the Seven network, David Basheer found himself in the public firing line after he mentioned the especially significant achievement of midfielder, Katrina Gorry.
Following the final siren, Basheer turned his focus to her response.
“The smile says it all from Katrina Gorry,” Basheer said.
“Certainly motherhood has not blunted her competitive instincts, that’s for sure. She is one fighter for Australia.”
Viewers slammed Basheer’s comments insinuating that having a child would have run the risk of compromising Gorry’s skill.
“Can the male commentating the Matildas Ireland game please refrain from suggesting it’s great a player’s competitive instinct hasn’t changed since she had a child?” said writer Dr Victoria Fielding.
“Why on earth would a woman’s sporting drive change through childbirth? You wouldn’t say it to a father playing sport.”
“Don’t know if that commentator has ever met a mother … The most instinctively competitive people on earth,” said comedian Dan Ilic.
“Huh?” wrote Former ABC News presenter Emma Alberici.
“Motherhood hasn’t blunted her competitive instincts” huh? #WomensWorldCup2023
— Emma Alberici (@albericie) July 20, 2023
While I concede that Basheer’s comments were clunky, I will argue till I’m blue in the face that his overall point is fair.
Returning to any professional sport after pregnancy and motherhood is a HUGE deal.
It’s monumental, and I say this as a woman with a one-year-old, who barely finds energy to tie my shoes.
But when we look at the sporting prowess of Katrina Gorry, and the incredible effort she’s put in to be playing in a World Cup, it’s nothing short of awe inspiring.
Gorry’s baby girl Harper is just 2 years old. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gorry entered the IVF journey solo while playing in Norway. She gave birth on August 16, 2021 – three days before her 29th birthday.
And she’s been open about crediting motherhood for bringing her back to the game she loved, after several years of injury and oscillating form.
“Nothing could have gone better for me. I think it happened at a perfect time,” she told ABC earlier this week.
“It gave me time to fall back in love with the game. My priorities really shifted a lot and now I feel like I just do it because I love it.”
But despite renewed passion, building your body back to a professional standard after pregnancy and birth isn’t a finger clicking proposition.
A body after birth is something that’s foreign– largely unrecognisable to what you knew before. And while experiences differ undoubtedly, for most of us, the transition to getting back to exercise is far from seamless.
Particularly when you breastfeed– something Katrina Gorry did until her daughter was one.
When I was breastfeeding, I barely let my partner hug me for fear of pain. The thought of running full pelt, being hit in the chest with a heavy ball and then stopping intermittently to inevitably feed a baby is unimaginable.
“Any kind of contact to the breast was super painful. I’d just come home with bruises everywhere,” Gorry recently told The Sydney Morning Herald.
Add to this the sleepless nights, the juggle of priorities, contending with any kind of illness in the home etc… and in my humble opinion, recognising Katrina Gorry’s insane athleticism as a mum of a toddler is warranted. It only serves to highlight just how seriously talented she truly is.
For Gorry, motherhood has given her new strength within her game that she’s harnessed.
“When I’m on the field, a massive thing for me was just being in my head and I don’t find myself much in my head anymore at all.
“I just try and play with a smile on my face and just enjoy every moment I’m out there — because I was ready to hang up my boots,” she says.
The Matildas’ head of sports science, Jack Sharkey, sees Gorry setting new PBs in physical testing, and puts it partly down to the enforced break and careful reconditioning following birth.
“I think that’s down to being able to switch off, have a break and, and go again,” Sharkey says. “I’m not saying you have to have a [baby] at that time, but it reiterates the importance of giving these players the break that they deserve and need.”
It’s no surprise that Gorry is subsequently recognised as the team’s safe hands and an absolute linchpin, with her teammates marvelling at her resolve and transformation.
“I’ve been so in awe of her since she’s come back from her pregnancy,” vice-captain Steph Catley said.
“I’ve known her a long, long time ever since I was young playing at Melbourne Victory and the transformation is insane.”
“I’ve always thought the world of her as a footballer, I’ve always thought she’s incredible, but she came back from her pregnancy levels and levels ahead of the player she was before — you just don’t ever expect that to happen.
“But the way she’s handled it, the way she is as a mum, that comes out on the field and she’s just this little warrior who is so technical, so smart.
“I don’t know how we ever played without her.”