Transcript
Troy: Sheree, welcome to um episode five um of our little podcast series here at the moment. we Thank you for joining us. i want to start out by asking you, like, obviously, I know you're rugby sevens, but can you give me a bit of rundown about how many kids, ah where you're at in your return to sport or where, you know, just branch it out, start it for us.
Troy: ah
Shiray: Okay, okay. So yeah, Sheree Karka, I 31 years old, played for the Blackfin Sevens for, oh gosh, too long and don't have enough bloody caps for the other amount of years that I've given to that team.
Shiray: But um I think maybe, yeah, I've 12, 13 years I've been with the team.
Samantha Child: That's amazing.
Shiray: um in and out of the team um yeah so just spent heaps of years with him anyway um have one child his name is korehi korehi malose kaka and he is seven and a bit months i was just trying to work it out was spen before i think yeah seven almost eight maybe um but have like five dogs, three cows, two pigs, like we've just got a full one cat that's trying to eat my arm right now but um you've got a full-on farm here which is heaps of fun.
Samantha Child: my God.
Samantha Child: my god
Shiray: I am the niggly thing with my return to play is I actually did my ACL before I went to get pregnant so did my ACL when I think I was maybe, oh gosh, had surgery,
Shiray: just before the or just after the Olympics so I never I can't even keep it all the time so 2024 whatever and then um decided to have try for a baby while I was recovering from my ACL so at the moment I'm seven months postpartum but I'm also trying to come back from my ACL as well which is um yeah a double whammy and I can't find any other athlete's
Troy: Okay. okay
Samantha Child: Like a double whammy.
Shiray: Like there's no other date data or anything about how to come back from an ACL and a baby at the same time time or what the timeframe looks like or anything like that. So
Troy: Can I just interrupt you for a second? Sorry. Just talking about that. So it's, have you noticed any, um I guess what I want to try and get down to is, have you noticed anything anything that was, say, na because I've done my ACL, right? Not, and then not got pregnant and had a baby while I've been doing the recovery thing. So um more for my, like, just because I'm curious, you did that, you've fallen pregnant and Has it changed because of the pregnancy as well?
Troy: as Do you think that that's changed your recovery from the ACL injury or surgery? Sorry, should I say?
Shiray: Handle yourself. Yeah, yeah, because I've done my ACL.
Troy: Yeah.
Shiray: This is my third time doing my ACL now. So the two the two other times were completely different because I could sleep the day away.
Troy: um Okay.
Shiray: Now I've got a child.
Troy: honey
Shiray: You know, you you can have surgery and you you can be tired and you can do what, like, you know, just focus on you solely your knee.
Troy: Yes.
Samantha Child: Right.
Troy: Yeah,
Shiray: But now i can't do that. I can't, um yeah, i I can't catch up on sleep because sun's waking up every two hours.
Troy: yeah. yeah
Shiray: It's just ah my priorities are a little bit different as well.
Troy: And.
Shiray: So yeah, the the recovery is completely different in this time around. And even I had a C-section too. So it's a C-section ACL and just postpartum.
Samantha Child: um
Shiray: So it's it's been a bit of a ride. It's been a bit of a ride. But I feel like I'm finally kind of coming out the other side and feeling a bit more human and all my body parts aren't sloshing around as much as they were.
Shiray: probably just last month so yeah it's it's very very different to the past two times I've had to come back from an ACL
Troy: ah
Troy: Yeah. Okay, cool. That's what I was wondering too, is when to able to compare. um Because at at the moment, that's all you've got, right, is you can compare your recovery from when, you know, just doing it without having had a baby.
Troy: And now you've got that comparison with a baby. Yeah. But anyway, I want to kind of take you back a little bit in your journey.
Shiray: yeah
Troy: um You've kind of you touched on it a little bit, but it sounds like it was more of a planned thing to have a baby as opposed to, ah oh, surprise.
Troy: um Were, like, did you reach out to anyone in your sport at the time that you um were thinking about it? Or did you keep it all kind of hush-hush? And if it, when it happened that, you know, can you take us through that a little bit?
Shiray: Yeah, so I, after, ah before the Tokyo Olympics, I said to my husband, if we win gold, I want to try for a baby then. We won gold, and i was like, I actually kind of want to keep going.
Samantha Child: I remember Sheree, am I right that you, i did you put out like a post kind of about that whole like conundrum of what to do? Was that you?
Shiray: Yeah, yeah, that was me.
Samantha Child: yeah.
Shiray: That was me.
Samantha Child: yeah
Shiray: um Just because I'm like, every woman thinks about it, but you have to give up your job. You you have to give up money. You have to, don't know, just kind of put your dreams to the side for a little bit to then create ah a different dream, which is like, that was a really hard decision.
Troy: Amen.
Shiray: But when I did my ACL just before the Olympics, I thought it's kind of, you know, perfect timing. I still was going in and out. ah Even when we were trying, i was thinking maybe we should just stop and maybe I should just keep coming back and plan another time.
Shiray: um Cause I was going to go and play NRLW and just try something new. um Still play sevens as well. And then, Yeah, I did talk to people in Sevens because the Sevens, they are really, um the program, are really supportive around what I found they were around women getting pregnant, especially the NZRPA.
Troy: All right.
Samantha Child: Cool.
Shiray: The NZRPA are just... or any question you have, any support you need, they will be there for you. And now we've got an amazing lady, Cara, what's her new name? She got married.
Shiray: Anyway, Cara, she looks after all the um athletes who have just had babies. And, you know, she's like, if you need support with a nutritionist postpartum, if you need a support here, whatever, just just talk to me and they can talk about funding or whatever.
Samantha Child: um ex
Troy: Oh.
Shiray: pelvic floor therapy it's yeah there's always somebody to answer a question and if they can't find the answer they go and find it um so yeah I was very very supported in that um
Samantha Child: Wow.
Samantha Child: And do you feel like that translated over into like your environment? So we obviously got the players association you can go to, but did you feel like these were conversations that you felt comfortable to have with like other people in your team or your coaches or like, it wasn't something that you had to kind of like hide a little bit?
Troy: And.
Shiray: Oh, you definitely, I definitely felt that with, with just telling the outside world, like the coaches and the management and stuff, because you've still got a job to do and they've still got a job to do as well and finding players that can actually play for their team.
Samantha Child: yeah
Shiray: So, I, I would never go to a coach, even if I absolutely love them. Um, even if I trusted them with my whole heart, I would never go to a coach and say, I'm trying for a baby.
Shiray: um, just because who are they going to choose? Someone who's fully able to play or someone, someone who could leave halfway through the season and and you can't count on them.
Troy: Yeah, totally. Yeah.
Shiray: So um i get it from both sides.
Samantha Child: Yeah.
Shiray: I, i understand they've got a coaches, management, NZR have a job to do.
Troy: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Shiray: And I understand that, you know, women have to live their lives as well and they need to find that balance. So yeah, personally, I would never tell, the people that are contracting me. um But yeah, that's just something that I guess people have to factor into women's rugby now or just women's sport in general, that that's what we want to do.
Samantha Child: I mean, it's the same.
Troy: but I was just going to say it's the same in the and in any um career really that a woman chooses even if even within not within sports.
Samantha Child: Oh, you got Troy.
Troy: you know like ah you know It's that kind of thing of um are they are they going to keep my job for me for the next year or are they you know looking for someone else or ah you know you if you're planning on having a baby it's like oh well I can't go to that interview and Let them know that that's what we're trying to do, you know.
Shiray: Yeah.
Troy: But you also have to live your life, right, because it could take a long time to fall pregnant or what, it you know.
Shiray: Yeah.
Troy: Like, you imagine going to your coach and going, oh, by the way, just so you know, we're trying, and then not getting selected and then not falling pregnant that whole season.
Troy: yeah, yeah i I totally get it. totally get it.
Shiray: I think the cool thing now though is I'm in a place where I've had my baby now. So you know that you can count on me for the next five years because I am not getting pregnant for a long in time.
Troy: Yes. Okay. Yeah.
Shiray: by yeah Oh, I am.
Samantha Child: I would not recommend it. I would not recommend it.
Shiray: yeah I think I know how I'd handle it more now, but yeah, get that shit away from me.
Samantha Child: No.
Troy: yes but thing
Shiray: i think it is not it is wild.
Samantha Child: Oh, that's wild, isn't it? Gosh. um So,
Troy: yeah
Samantha Child: At this point, so obviously like one gold in Tokyo, of like an epic achievement, had a little bit of uncertainty, obviously did your ACL and then so perhaps kind of put you in the space of like, okay, well, maybe now's the time.
Samantha Child: You've fallen pregnant, which is really exciting. and What was sort of your process from there?
Troy: Thank you.
Samantha Child: Like did you um keep training with your squad at the time? Was that an option for you? Did you step away and just sort of like live out your pregnancy? Like what did that sort of look like? Yeah.
Shiray: Yeah, again, it was different for me because I had done my ACR, so I was already training by myself anyway. I couldn't be in the team trainings. I couldn't be around. And it was just when the girls had won gold at the Olympics, so everyone was off-season anyway.
Shiray: um So it looks a little bit different now for people who are and pregnant and in-season. They still have to...
Samantha Child: I feel like half your team's pregnant at the moment.
Shiray: I know.
Samantha Child: It's so exciting.
Shiray: I know.
Samantha Child: I threw another one, was it, Theresa, today that um announced she was pregnant.
Shiray: Yeah. Yeah, there's about six of us that have had six or seven maybe.
Samantha Child: That's incredible.
Shiray: um Yeah, so it's it's cool. There's going to be heaps little babies running around and everything. But... Yeah, it was, I think the the first thing that i um thought about was money because my husband was a teacher aide too and they should be getting paid way more than they do, but he, like their pay is nothing.
Shiray: And so the biggest worry for me was the money side of things because every time you go, you travel overseas, you get bonus money too.
Samantha Child: Yeah. It's
Shiray: Yeah. And so I obviously wouldn't be training overseas. So it would just, it was a lot different. And so I think, i'm I'm sorry if this is wrong. I can go, but I tried to check, but I can't remember.
Samantha Child: okay
Shiray: um i think, so at three months, you have to tell the coaches and team that you're pregnant. I think I might've told them a little bit earlier just to give them a bit more time to stir.
Troy: this in your contract?
Shiray: Yes. Yes. Yes, um yeah, at three months you have to tell them and then you get paid after that, I think you get paid 50% of your contract.
Troy: Yeah.
Shiray: yeah I need check that, I need to check there cause like i yeah that yeah, the details are really important.
Samantha Child: It's okay.
Troy: Okay. That's all right. But so you take, you basically take pay cap.
Samantha Child: Yeah.
Shiray: Yeah. Oh, yes.
Troy: Yep.
Shiray: Maybe, no, 80% until six months and then it goes down from there to maybe 50% and then you go on to the, once your due date is gone, you go on to the government's payment.
Samantha Child: yeah
Shiray: that ma
Troy: or the six months, yeah.
Shiray: Yeah, for the six months and then you just go and live your life after that. Yeah.
Samantha Child: Yeah, I'm so interested in how that works because, and i I know that you probably don't know the ins and outs, but it's so tricky, right? Because if you've got like one athlete in a squad, then maybe you can justify keeping them contracted and supporting them financially because holy shit, turns out, you know, kids and babies cost money and where are you going to get that from if this is your job?
Troy: Thank you.
Samantha Child: But in the same breath, it's like when you've got six, what do you do? Like, because then the, this is it's such a hard conundrum because it's like the resources are, so finite in any sport really like yes sevens might have more than another sport but at at the end of the day there's only one pot of money and it's like how do you make it work so that you like you retain these like six amazing athletes who need and deserve that support to be able to like have their babies and come back if they want to but also have enough money to field players on a team until they're back like I just don't know how you figure it out
Samantha Child: I mean, you might have not been in training super intensely anyway, given you're recovering from your ACL, but what did that sort of like six, eight, nine months look like for you training wise?
Shiray: Yes, i um was only, I think again, the girls yeah the girls might have gone on break, but I had all the support I needed. I had a trainer, I had had physio, I had pelvic floor therapist, I had nutritionist.
Samantha Child: Amazing.
Shiray: I had everything at my fingertips. so the um there was no excuse for me putting on that much weight. Let me tell you that.
Samantha Child: Hey, now, when you're growing a baby, your body does your body does what your body does.
Shiray: There was no excuse.
Troy: No, but hey, Jare, I trained all through my pregnancy for both.
Samantha Child: Yeah.
Troy: Granted, not at a high and light level like that. And I'm just one of those people that balloons out. Like I put on 20, 25 kilos.
Shiray: if
Troy: You know, i like I don't know.
Samantha Child: Yeah, your body does what it needs to do. Yeah.
Shiray: Oh my goodness.
Troy: You know, some of us just carry big. Yeah.
Shiray: yeah no do you know what it was it was actually in the second trip so I did a um renovation show and think it was the whole second trimester I just did absolutely nothing like I just ate because after the renovation show we had to finish a room in four days so yeah I was just so tired and honestly if there was chocolate
Samantha Child: Wow. Oh
Samantha Child: my God, you wouldn't guess.
Troy: Yeah, it's stressful.
Shiray: like i I would dream about chocolate. I would dream about cookies.
Samantha Child: a
Shiray: It was just come to me. And for the first time I could.
Samantha Child: It was your son telling you what you needed, i reckon.
Shiray: Exactly.
Samantha Child: him
Shiray: I'm paying for it now, but it's fine. It's all good.
Samantha Child: No.
Shiray: yeah
Troy: ah You know what to do, though.
Samantha Child: Gosh.
Troy: That's the thing like that's the good thing, you know. Cool.
Shiray: Yeah, but yeah, again, we had, i had everything, and I still have, like, all the support now. um If I, yeah, if I needed a trainer, I'm lucky that our old trainer from the sevens, she's just amazing, and she's just helping me, and same as a physio that I know as well, she's, yeah, Adina and Murph, they've been just amazing for me.
Samantha Child: Amazing.
Samantha Child: That's cool.
Samantha Child: Can you imagine doing it without that? Like, can you, like, you, would you even, could you, do you know where you'd even like start to look for stuff?
Shiray: No.
Shiray: Oh, I would have no idea.
Samantha Child: Yeah.
Shiray: i would have no idea. And I think I would also have no idea because of my knee too. So I would be on chat GPT asking for workouts. That's what I'd be doing.
Samantha Child: No, Chatty G's a pretty good gal. She she knows her stuff.
Shiray: Yeah. I feel like it's low-key male though. So I don't know if he'd know his stuff that well.
Samantha Child: Yeah.
Shiray: Yeah.
Samantha Child: um Righto, so you made it through the pregnancy and you had your little bubba came along and you mentioned that you had a C-section with him.
Shiray: Yes, and he was facing the wrong way. He just kept doing like turns in my and my stomach, um down low, and ended up, his heart rate kept rising or something, so I had to go, go in for a C-section.
Shiray: But I was here at home hoping for a water birth. sitting out yeah sitting up for a water birth and then um just had complications and had to drive into Tauranga hospital so um we live out in the bush too and like 45 minutes away from Tauranga so I was getting car sick and having contractions at the same time it was just it was hilarious though like my husband and were just laughing the whole time don't know we're just like two idiots you know
Samantha Child: Oh gosh.
Samantha Child: Wow.
Samantha Child: Oh my gosh.
Troy: Oh no, a horrible.
Samantha Child: no Was it?
Samantha Child: um
Troy: That's good. At least you're in a good positive mindset, you know, because that makes such a difference.
Samantha Child: ah la
Shiray: and
Troy: Such a difference.
Shiray: Oh, it was because we we got to the hospital and i um and I cracked a joke and no one laughed. And that's when I thought, maybe something's wrong. Oh
Troy: yeah
Samantha Child: gosh because troy you had a you had a similar experience hey like almost yeah identical
Troy: that Yeah, yeah. I went for a home birth and ended up with the most extreme where I had C-section under general. i was like, oh, I was going no drugs and then I was out.
Shiray: gosh. Yeah.
Shiray: god
Troy: But you just have to roll with it, right?
Shiray: sir
Troy: You just go, all right.
Shiray: yeah
Troy: And then I tried for my second to do a home birth again.
Shiray: It's a man.
Troy: and i once again, I had to go in for a C-section again.
Shiray: And then?
Troy: So, you know.
Shiray: Oh, and under as well or no?
Troy: no this time I got to be awake, but...
Shiray: Oh.
Troy: Mate, I don't know if I, that was not a pleasant experience.
Shiray: Oh, the tremble. It was the shaking that got me.
Troy: I was shaking from the, it must be the drugs, but I could not stop at full shivers, and then the rummaging around, it's just a very, guess I say the word unpleasant, because you can endure it, but it's like, this is so not, I wouldn't go, yes, chuck me in there again, know?
Samantha Child: ah it's It's the shapes. It's awful.
Shiray: Yeah.
Shiray: Yeah, no, no, not at all.
Troy: Yeah. ah
Shiray: yeah Well, how's about the guy couldn't get the epidural needle into, like, he was like, can you feel this? Yes, that's to the right of my spine. Can you feel this?
Shiray: That's the left of my spine.
Samantha Child: Like, come on, brother, you can do it here.
Shiray: Yeah, I felt so bad.
Troy: oh
Shiray: He was so loved. I felt so bad for him, though, because everyone was silent and just staring at him.
Troy: yeah
Shiray: It was hilarious. Yeah, yeah.
Samantha Child: oh Oh gosh. And so little bubs arrive and you mentioned before like a lot of that same support you had in your um pregnancy was maintained throughout your postpartum period, which is just really fucking cool.
Shiray: Yeah.
Samantha Child: But yeah, just talk to us about that like early recovery, sort of what that was like. Is there anything that like, I don't know, surprised you or challenged you like mentally or physically?
Shiray: um Hilarious.
Troy: Sorry, I've got a little one Yep, yep.
Shiray: Oh, hi, darling.
Samantha Child: Hi little bubby.
Troy: something like kedo
Shiray: Hi.
Samantha Child: She's okay.
Shiray: Yeah. um Funnily enough, you know those blood thinner injections that you have to take or that you have to inject yourself with?
Troy: yeah ye
Shiray: Anyway, Gilly's a scared of needle, so I had to inject myself.
Samantha Child: Come on guy.
Shiray: And when I injected myself, I created a hematoma on my uterus.
Samantha Child: way.
Shiray: And so i had to go back into hospital two weeks after having sun.
Samantha Child: Oh. Oh.
Shiray: And so that's, yeah, that was just another little hiccup in the road, I suppose. So all of my recovery was two, three weeks behind.
Shiray: um But I kind of took that as a sign because after I had sun, I was like, right, let's go. I'm ready too get back into it. But then when that happened, I took it as a sign to kind of just slow down and enjoy um just enjoy being a family like having son and being parents and the no sleep and everything and so that's kind of the um the mindset that I've taken now because understanding how fast it goes I have no idea he's a kid now he's a little kid and it makes me so sad so I'm really glad I've just slowed down and taken the time not to rush back into sport
Samantha Child: Laugh it up.
Troy: Yeah.
Troy: Totally.
Shiray: Because that will always be there, but the time that's, you know, going past won't be with Sun.
Troy: Totally. delay
Shiray: um Oh, it makes me sad thinking about it. But, yeah, I'm like, what do you mean?
Troy: Well, it does go fast. I mean, we've all, yeah, we've, you know. um So I've just got a bit of a question in terms of what your forward planning looks like. I mean, as you said, you're going kind of taking it slowly, whatever. but Do you have ah a set goal in mind that you'd like to be back for um in the near future?
Shiray: Yeah, so when I first wanted to come back, I wanted to try everything. So Opeki, NRLW, and then come back to Sevens. But then ah when I was thinking that, that the time from, I think they all of their pre-season starts in May.
Shiray: And again, I was just, Sheree, you need to slow down and just...
Troy: Mm-hmm.
Samantha Child: hmm
Shiray: my My focus is getting fit fast and strong again. So because I chucked on a heap of weight with pregnancy, our goal is to get me a little bit closer to my old playing weight just so that my joints and everything aren't so sore when I move.
Shiray: Because I know where I can feel where every joint goes in every single part of my body. i can feel it.
Samantha Child: no
Shiray: So yeah know that's one goal is to just drop a few kgs I can um move a lot more freer. and then i want my fitness and strength to be up so that you know there's no risk of injury when I do come back.
Troy: Yeah.
Samantha Child: Yeah.
Troy: Yeah.
Shiray: Oh, sorry. Not no. you There's never no risk, but there's just a lower risk of injury when I come back. Because me thinking about being injured and having to look after a child, and no thank you.
Samantha Child: a
Shiray: that's That's not what I want. So, yeah, that's my main focus is just getting fit fast, strong again, and minimizing risk of injury.
Troy: la
Shiray: I don't have any... any teams in mind, because I know once I get fit fast, strong again, up to my standards, that the teams are just going to flow. They're just going to come and everything's going to work out from there.
Troy: Yeah, yeah.
Troy: Nice.
Samantha Child: Right.
Troy: So can I just ask, where are you with your ACL um recovery timeline? Like, I mean, because obviously how long ago did you have your surgery now? of What?
Shiray: yes
Troy: A year and a half?
Shiray: Almost, I think a year, yeah, a year ago, maybe, maybe it was, yeah, a year.
Troy: Yeah, okay. Have surgery before after you were pregnant?
Shiray: A year and a half. I had surgery before.
Troy: Okay, all right.
Shiray: Yeah. Maybe a year and ah a year and a bit.
Troy: Okay. Okay.
Shiray: So it feels sturdy, but I've got one last test or a few more tests to do in about four five weeks.
Troy: Yeah.
Shiray: That'll determine whether my knee is as good to go. And then it would just be the rest of the body to follow.
Troy: Yeah.
Shiray: um,
Troy: And how are you feeling? Like, are you feeling like, I mean, you obviously have had a couple of surgeries now for your ACL. So you kind of know, I'm assuming that you kind of know where you're at with your recovery.
Troy: Do you think you are close to being signed off?
Shiray: Yeah, yeah. Honestly, i'm not what I'm not worried about my knee at all.
Troy: Yeah. Okay.
Shiray: It's just the rest of my body. I just, yeah, I need to just feel strong again everywhere else.
Troy: Yeah.
Troy: How's the core?
Shiray: Oh, sis, it's not good, eh?
Troy: You know what I've found myself doing is like looking at old pictures of my abs. um but I don't know if I could ever get back there because it's looking like I'm still three months pregnant at the moment.
Shiray: Yeah. Yeah.
Troy: ah
Shiray: Yeah. It's just not budging. Cause everyone told me, you know, when you breastfeed, the weight just drops off. It is, it's so stubborn.
Samantha Child: oh it's a lie it's an actual lie yeah nice
Shiray: It's more stubborn than me. And I didn't think that was possible, honestly.
Troy: no ah
Shiray: it's just It's not, it does not want to budge. it's But then I was thinking, sweet, I'll just use it kind of to bulk up. Because i went up before pregnancy, I was quite tiny.
Shiray: But I want to use it to just be muscly as and just bumping people off, you know, just adding something new to my to my repertoire for rugby.
Troy: Yeah.
Troy: Yeah.
Shiray: if
Troy: I like it.
Shiray: Yeah.
Troy: I like it. Yeah.
Shiray: now I will say, though, like I... I can take my time because social media is paying the bills at the moment. So ah yeah, we like, we're doing documentaries.
Samantha Child: Nice.
Troy: yes
Shiray: We're doing, um or like ads and stuff online. So
Samantha Child: Cool. Yeah, I've seen so much stuff pop up.
Shiray: Yeah.
Samantha Child: It's, yeah, really cool, the opportunity.
Shiray: Yeah. Sorry about that. Sorry. i got to buy some nappies.
Samantha Child: No, I think it's, I think it's, no, but that's the point.
Troy: Yeah.
Shiray: Yeah.
Troy: Yeah.
Samantha Child: I think it's, like, so great that, you know, like, very deserving people get those opportunities and, you know.
Shiray: Oh, thank you.
Samantha Child: Cool.
Shiray: and it it's so much fun that we're really enjoying it at the moment too. And because it it does give us the freedom to be home as a family and um just to have fun and hopefully put some smiles on people's faces too that need it through the screen.
Shiray: So yeah, I will say that's another thing that we're very, like I don't have to rush into work and um think about daycare and pumping and all that sort of stuff.
Samantha Child: Yeah.
Troy: yeah
Samantha Child: That's... Oh.
Shiray: So um every day I think about how fortunate we are to not have to do that.
Samantha Child: Yeah.
Troy: Mm-hmm.
Samantha Child: ah You've kind of already touched on it a little bit in terms of just like talking about slowing down and taking your time. But do you think kind of entering this phase of motherhood and becoming a mum...
Samantha Child: Has it changed your relationship with training or can you see it changing your relationship with like competition and once you get to that stage?
Shiray: Yeah, I think before i got pregnant, I was like the team was my life and I would have stuff out of it too, but um I would come in and I would try to fix things and try to help everyone and um just have like a huge team focus.
Troy: Thank you.
Shiray: But I think now, I'm moving with purpose. Like sun hasn't given me a purpose. I'm now moving with purpose. So I come into the gym, I do my gym and then I go, you know, it's just, yeah.
Samantha Child: See
Shiray: it's and And there's no background, like any, there's nothing happening in the background for me. Like you do your job. I do my job. We're good to go. like I don't, I don't know
Troy: Yeah.
Samantha Child: ya.
Shiray: It's just,
Samantha Child: I can so relate to that.
Troy: Well, you're a bit more time poor, right? When you've got a like all of a sudden you're every minute, every hour, like it counts. Right. So you're not going to be there, you know, you're not there filling time or yeah like, you you know, when you're used to, whereas now you've got time that you want to spend with your your um children, you know.
Shiray: Yeah, yeah, 100%. hundred percent
Samantha Child: And then kind of like fast forward. So, hot you know, i'm I'm hoping we see you back out on the field um sooner rather than later.
Troy: Thank you.
Samantha Child: Fast forward sort of thinking to about about that time. Has anyone in your team been through, it probably in the more recent era, sort of been through this experience? And what's that look like in terms of um the ability to bring Sun away with you or will he stay home?
Samantha Child: Like, have you sort of started thinking about those kind of things are you just like back of mind until until we get there?
Shiray: No, we definitely thought about it. So if I was to go back to Sevens, then you're allowed to bring a support person up until they're one.
Samantha Child: Amazing.
Shiray: um So, yeah I would definitely bring Gillies with me on tour if that was, if Sevens was the way for me to go.
Samantha Child: And do they help do they help support that, um like resource that financially?
Shiray: yeah.
Samantha Child: Oh, so great.
Shiray: Yeah, I think that's still the case.
Samantha Child: Cool.
Shiray: I'm pretty sure that's still the case. If it was, say, NRW or something, you're just in that one place, so it's a little bit easier.
Troy: Thank you.
Samantha Child: Yeah.
Shiray: So he would just move over with me and we'd get a house or something. And then Opeki, it's in New Zealand. So, yeah, that would kind of...
Samantha Child: Yeah. And a short, like a shorter window. Hey, is that right?
Shiray: Yeah, yeah, in a very short window. So the only big one would be if I was to go back to sevens, then, um yeah, that would happen. But even if once he gets past one, I would still want them coming in with me everywhere as well.
Samantha Child: Yeah.
Shiray: So I'd just have to annoy you with some more videos on your feed.
Samantha Child: Get jobs out there.
Samantha Child: so last final couple of questions um what's one piece of advice or two if you have it you'd sort of give to another athlete who was um considering making pregnancy a part of their career or considering this sort of choice
Shiray: Um, I would say as much as you have too much pride, try to use the people around you.
Troy: Thank you.
Shiray: um like just by me reaching out to a physio I knew and a trainer I knew, i now have a team that backs me. Um, you know, like with Murph, I'm not even paying her.
Samantha Child: Amazing.
Shiray: She's just, she just wants to help. She's an amazing person. So if you can, ah you can find those amazing people to help you on your journey. um you know, when they say it takes a village, it's it's a village for you, not just for your child, it's it's for you and your partner, so yeah, I think that's one thing that I would say, and then also just, if you can, just take your time, enjoy every little moment, because yeah, it just doesn't last forever.
Troy: Thank you.
Samantha Child: I think that's such a valuable piece of advice because if i kind of reflect on when I was doing it and I know that lots of us sort of felt the same, especially in team environments, we took the um the perspective of like, oh, don't want to be a hassle so I won't ask anyone for advice or help or anything. And, you know, like you wanted to just like seamlessly come back in and not not worry about anything and you didn't want to be like, a yeah, a hassle to anyone and you just sort of end up trying to do it all by yourself, which is just...
Samantha Child: not Not a great idea. i wouldn't recommend it.
Shiray: Yeah, I would recommend.
Troy: you
Shiray: It is though because um I just feel like you don't, we the people that you see online, they're coming back and they are just thriving. There's no, you know, you don't see the the nappies or the washing all on the floor or the dirty dishes.
Samantha Child: No. 100%.
Shiray: You just see an unreal athlete in the gym that's like come back from a baby. and i feel like we've missed all the steps in between of how hard it actually is to do that.
Samantha Child: hundred six
Shiray: So, yeah, I don't know. Maybe my next video will be how much washing there is on the floor or something. I don't know.
Samantha Child: we've all got it I wish you could see the state of like the room behind me it's like it's a spare room and it's just a dumping ground it's disgusting um one other thing that I love to kind of know and ask is why do you think it's important to help mothers stay in sport and to give them this opportunity
Shiray: Yeah, the reality. Yeah.
Shiray: yeah
Shiray: Oh, I think maybe because the story that we are constantly told is that once you have babies, once you have kids, you can't chase your dreams anymore. Um,
Shiray: And I think if we're supporting women and being mums and still being able to do what they love, then we're actually creating a better world for everybody too. And and we're not um we're not falling behind.
Shiray: We're we going up with the trends. And so, you know, women's women's sport is going up. And by, you know, supporting mothers as well, we're women too. Everything else just elevates. So, don't know if that's a good enough reason, but then that's what I would say.
Samantha Child: I love it. It's a bloody fantastic reason. I don't think we do need a reason, but I just love to know what people think about it.
Shiray: Yeah.
Samantha Child: Sheree, thank you so much for your time. It's just so great to get some valuable insight and actually hear like a ah really like positive story where you've got amazing support and just sort of understand what that looks like.
Samantha Child: So thank you so much for sharing. We really appreciate it. Oh,
Shiray: No worries. and Nice to meet you guys properly and like face person.
Troy: Well, I'm about to go and follow you because I don't follow you.
Shiray: Please don't.
Troy: prepared but i I'm curious now.
Shiray: Don't do it. You don't need to.
Troy: I've got to pay your bills.
Shiray: Oh, it's our yes.
Samantha Child: oh
Troy: that
Samantha Child: yeah
Shiray: Thank you. I'll take that. I need some more nappies.
