Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
EPISODE FOUR, KAYLA WHITELOCK - HOCKEY
17 Plays10 days ago
In this episode we are joined by Kayla Whitelock, four time Olympian, former Black Sticks captain, and one of New Zealand's most respected hockey players.
Having grown her young family to 5 (!) children, Kayla has been through this comeback journey twice, at a time when it wasn't being done by many and support was hard to come by. Having pathed much of her own way, Kayla shares how she did it and what differed the first and second time around.
Recommended
Transcript
Intro
Introduction to Kayla Whitelock's Career and Family Journey
00:00:39
Troy
Hi, Kayla. Welcome. Episode number four. um Just to kick things off, can you give them like give us a bit of a background of your sport, how many children you got, um your career highlights?
00:00:52
Troy
Just introduce yourself a little bit so we could all...
00:00:55
Kayla
Yeah, cool.
00:00:55
Troy
know yeah
00:00:56
Kayla
Thanks for having me. ah So Kayla Whitelock, former hockey player, black sticks player, um went to four Olympics, started, I guess, in the black sticks team when I was 17.
00:01:10
Kayla
quite a long, ah i guess, period of time in the black sticks, coming and going a bit, obviously.
00:01:11
Troy
Bye.
00:01:18
Kayla
Yeah, so i had my first child 2015. Yeah, so I was, i guess, middle to end of career-ish I guess you'd say um so yeah it was we got married 2013 then um had Edison yeah 2015 so after Commonwealth Games and World Cup that year so um yeah think I answered that right or not yeah
00:01:50
Troy
Yeah, no, that's perfect. So thinking about social...
00:01:51
Kayla
And I have five kids Five kids now.
00:01:53
Troy
Pardon?
00:01:55
Kayla
So i know. yeah So I had Addison while I was still playing. I actually retired in 2016, had Maxwell second, and then came back for a stint to try and go back for Tokyo for 2020.
00:02:10
Troy
Yeah.
00:02:12
Kayla
Then unfortunately did my ACL just before that. So it was ruled out of that. And then, yeah, i've had... another singleton and then just twins are 14 months yes
00:02:25
Samantha Child
Topped it off with twins.
00:02:25
Troy
Oh, wow. You're like, were you at that point? You're like, okay, we'll do one more. and then boom, surprise, twins.
00:02:32
Kayla
yeah yeah yeah
00:02:32
Troy
Okay, two more. ah Oh, bless.
00:02:35
Kayla
la
00:02:37
Troy
Okay, so um you, just recapping that, did I get that correct?
00:02:37
Kayla
the
00:02:41
Troy
You've got, you had two, basically when you you came back after your first, Addison, then retired, but then came out of retirement after the second, right?
00:02:52
Kayla
Yes.
00:02:52
Troy
Is that right? Yeah.
00:02:53
Kayla
it great
00:02:53
Troy
Okay. All right.
00:02:54
Kayla
Yes.
00:02:55
Troy
So, i mean, I guess if we're going back to say you got married in 2013, 2015, you've got baby. In that time period, was there any was there much talk about, you know, when you're going to have um
Balancing Family Planning with a Sports Career
00:03:08
Troy
start having a family?
00:03:09
Samantha Child
Thank
00:03:10
Troy
um You know, did you confide in anyone or was it more of a surprise? Do you mind taking us through that a little bit?
00:03:17
Kayla
Yeah, not really. i We knew we wanted kids. George probably would have wanted to have kids straight away, but i I guess I had the milestone of the Commonwealth Games was coming around the corner and World Cup, so they were kind of my targets.
00:03:32
Troy
And then
00:03:32
Kayla
And then, yeah, literally straight after the Commonwealth Games, um I felt pregnant and I guess I think because we did so well in 2012 I was well you know we came fourth I still had that desire to go back um for the Olympics so i was it was quite a tricky i guess phase of oh do I have kids or do I keep going to Rio kind of thing and um obviously
00:03:55
Troy
then
00:03:59
Kayla
completed the Commonwealth Games and World Cup and then um yeah it kind of worked out perfect really in times in terms of timing because I probably still had the in the back of my mind that I wanted to come back for Rio if I could um after having first child but no real formal
00:04:13
Troy
Mm.
00:04:20
Kayla
conversations and and that I was probably lucky enough I'd had a couple of players before me who had had children that had come tour but as probably Sam said I was young so just that was just like oh yeah cool we've got some kids on tour for a little bit and that was about it really so didn't have any really background information
00:04:43
Troy
Yeah. And so you're saying, obviously it was a bit more of a, it wasn't a calculated, right, okay, so um we've got to start trying now because if i so we can fall pregnant in the next little bit and then be ready for this.
00:04:55
Troy
It actually just naturally happened for you. is that what I'm hearing?
00:04:59
Kayla
Yeah, you're naturally in a sense where I stopped taking the pill, I guess. so Yeah.
00:05:03
Troy
ah Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, like if it happened, you can't be like, oh, oh, that was a mistake.
00:05:05
Kayla
We'll stop.
00:05:08
Troy
Whoopsie.
00:05:09
Kayla
Yeah. Yeah.
00:05:10
Troy
ah
00:05:11
Kayla
um we'll stop
00:05:12
Samantha Child
I think I was rooming with you Kayla at the time and i I have this like vivid memory of you being like don't tell anyone I'm putting it in the bin you know like which is so funny but it's kind of to the point right because like
00:05:13
Kayla
yeah i didn
00:05:18
Troy
Thank you.
00:05:25
Samantha Child
I and i've I've said this to Troy before, like, I don't feel like that sentiment is that different now that like these conversations about planning for a family and wanting to start of a family like you kind of felt like you had to do it behind like closed doors and not like God forbid you talk to a coach about it.
00:05:36
Kayla
yeah closed doors yeah yeah
00:05:41
Samantha Child
Like, is that how you kind of felt at the time?
00:05:43
Kayla
yeah definitely it was kind of like just own internal thing really i reckon like between me and george and then he was kind of like oh you know well, we have children, you know, were kind of discussing and was like yeah, we definitely want children, but it was kind of like, when do we start it?
00:05:54
Troy
Thank you.
00:05:56
Samantha Child
Thank you.
00:06:00
Kayla
When do we fit it in? And um George was actually, he was going to play rugby in Japan as well. So it actually worked out, i was like, oh, I'm going to – I'll come with you to Japan.
00:06:11
Kayla
So it was kind of like a break anyway in terms of – and that's when it all happened. So um it worked quite well well in that sense because I knew I was going to be out of the country, I guess, over in Japan with George.
00:06:24
Kayla
So it kind of just fell into place. But, yeah, there was no discussion. It was more when I fell pregnant. and I had my first scan. I told the coach.
00:06:31
Troy
Thank
00:06:31
Kayla
I was like – and <unk>m pregnant I'm kind thing and that was kind of, yeah, Yeah.
00:06:39
Troy
Can I ask a question, sorry, i Sam, just from a, because of course I'm from an individual sport and you guys both being from a team sport, is there a sense of not wanting to share too much with everyone that you're pregnant for a little bit too, like, um I guess what I'm trying to get at is like, is there that competition for your spot and whether you're, like, and is there, is there a sense of that a little bit?
00:06:39
Samantha Child
to you go no
00:06:44
Kayla
Yeah.
00:07:06
Kayla
I don't think so.
00:07:07
Troy
Or was there?
00:07:08
Kayla
I don't think so. It was just more the sense of, I don't know, it was just like it was, you didn't really talk about it, so it was kind of just, I guess we were all one of the older ones in the team as as such, and it was just, yeah, I don't think it was more of a competition thing.
00:07:25
Kayla
It was just more we just, I mean, my best friend knew who was on the way.
00:07:28
Troy
Yes, I'm pregnant and I'm done. You know, like I'm going to go have a baby.
00:07:33
Kayla
Yeah, yeah, that was kind of.
00:07:34
Troy
I'll see you when I see you.
00:07:36
Samantha Child
Okay, so you're pregnant. You're in Japan at this point, which is quite nice.
00:07:40
Kayla
Yes.
00:07:41
Samantha Child
and Did you kind of, did you always know that post this pregnancy that you were going to try to um come back to the team? And then what did that look like in terms of like,
00:07:52
Samantha Child
your training or not training during pregnancy and did you have access to like support and resources that helped you make decisions during that time like what was that period of time like for you
00:08:04
Kayla
um probably radio silence really i reckon like nothing nothing nothing really so um I did a bit of training over in Japan just like at the local gym that we had um just mainly to move really um nothing too physical but they're quite like over in Japan it's a different dynamic as well they don't really like if if the gym finds out you're pregnant you know like there's no way you can go to the gym over there like it's quite they're quite strict on
00:08:31
Samantha Child
That's right.
00:08:34
Kayla
rules and stuff around yet so i did it for a period and then obviously when I started to be able to show then I was just like nah can't really go near it so um and that was really the end of that really because it was mainly probably because of my like knees and stuff having from my ACL so just making sure that was strong so that's what I was mainly trying to do but um yeah so after that kind of period not much not a lot really
00:08:35
Samantha Child
Yeah.
00:08:43
Samantha Child
Wow.
00:09:04
Samantha Child
And so like when going kind of back to that point at which you expressed that you were pregnant, there wasn't like HP weren't like, oh, here's like your strength and conditioner or this or that. Or like there was just nothing in terms of like, was the expectation that you stepped away, kind of did your own thing, had the baby and then came back in like a position to play again? Did you feel like that was kind of the expectation?
Pregnancy and the Lack of Support for Athlete Mothers
00:09:28
Kayla
yeah probably probably like there's just no conversations around it at all or no information or anything really I just kind of told the coach at like 13 weeks that I was pregnant and then kind of was like that was it and then it was kind of yeah you're on your own in a sense um not not that they said that but I didn't know any different either so I didn't go searching for anything or whatever but um it was more the fact that yeah it was just like
00:09:58
Kayla
almost like a dropping out of a squad probably is what you would call it because you just get nothing you're just gone it's not like it's maternity leave or anything it's just well you're not available so you're not you're not available um and yeah and then it wasn't till and then I just started post should I carry on to post having her and what I did
00:10:03
Troy
Thank
00:10:21
Samantha Child
yeah I mean did you end up did you end up having her in Japan did you come back to New Zealand like before that birth
00:10:26
Kayla
not yeah so we came back you know I had it in New Zealand so came back I think came back February and I had her in April so um couple of months before George had finished he wasn't going to do another season so we were like oh we're having we we'll come home and have her home, which was good.
00:10:45
Kayla
And then I guess the year birth had her naturally but had a really bad like tear. like as she She came up with her hand out like this and it was quick.
00:10:57
Samantha Child
Oh
00:10:58
Troy
Ha ha ha.
00:10:59
Kayla
It can't be good. It can't be good. I didn't want a C-section because I had in my mind that if I had a C-section, I was going to struggle to get back to hockey and playing hockey because I was in that mind.
00:11:01
Samantha Child
Good work, Jack
00:11:09
Troy
I don't
00:11:10
Samantha Child
yeah what what was what remind me what the time frame was so you had addy in in 2015 so you were targeting like a probably like a domestic nhl towards the end of that year
00:11:15
Kayla
i
00:11:18
Kayla
8.15, yeah. And then,
00:11:23
Kayla
yeah, so i think i was about five months postpartum when I played that.
00:11:29
Samantha Child
yeah yeah wow
00:11:30
Kayla
And that's when conversations started happening, really. um Yeah, I think. think it was around that time. I think, yeah, Mark and that the coaches came and saw me at around five, yeah, around after that, maybe that competition and started asking if i what I was going to do.
00:11:48
Kayla
Basically.
00:11:48
Samantha Child
Gosh. So even going back, so like you've had Eddie, you've had like, you know, somewhat traumatic experience getting the poor chick out with a hand next to her head.
00:11:52
Kayla
Yeah.
00:11:55
Kayla
Yeah. Yeah.
00:11:57
Samantha Child
Like obviously there's the like the, the model of care that you get from like your, um your LMC or whoever.
00:11:58
Kayla
right
00:12:00
Troy
Thank
00:12:05
Samantha Child
And they obviously provide you with that kind of early rehab stuff. How did you go about, okay, knowing um in five months, I need to be ready to play this league.
00:12:08
Kayla
Yeah.
00:12:14
Samantha Child
Assuming the expectation is that like, you know you're the best pair in New Zealand but you're still probably thinking about getting selected which is you know just a bit silly but I don't think you would have been happily been welcomed into the team with open arms no matter what um stage you were at but yeah what did that five months look like like who supported you where did you kind of get that knowledge from or was it kind of just like you made it up as you went
00:12:21
Kayla
Yeah.
00:12:36
Kayla
Yeah, literally just made it up as I went. I reckon I started cycling at about four weeks postpartum, just ticking along on stationary bike down at my in-laws.
00:12:52
Kayla
And then I started trying to run. don't even um but light a bit later after that, maybe probably six to eight weeks, but like I remember just going 30 seconds on the treadmill and being absolutely
00:13:05
Samantha Child
That's still pretty impressive, six to eight weeks.
00:13:06
Kayla
oh yeah and I was just like well this is like you know and i I just I just probably the knowledge that I had myself not that it was correct I would say but I just kind of just did what I kind of knew and just built my way back up and then I think at three months I went to my first hockey session but didn't do a lot just like dribble the ball and like yeah just stationary stuff
00:13:31
Samantha Child
Wow.
00:13:35
Kayla
and um hello stationary stuff and you just but like then ni I went to the next training the following week and did a little bit more and just gradually like introduced myself back into it and then just kind of yeah went away for tournament really so no formal structure no probably just kind of tapped into the knowledge I knew from playing pre
00:13:37
Troy
Sorry.
00:13:40
Samantha Child
I swear to you.
00:13:40
Troy
yes
00:14:04
Kayla
pregnancy really which if I look back on now was not great in terms of just I mean so then I guess fast forward a bit and I'm playing for the black sticks but it wasn't until about like a few months before we were going off to Rio that I like found I had the separation of the abs like yes I was doing well i think we were playing like indoor we're doing indoor sessions in that bit roller skating gym
00:14:26
Troy
Diet says, yeah, yeah.
00:14:26
Samantha Child
Wow.
00:14:34
Kayla
and were doing abs on the side with our trainer, like core and stuff, and I was just like crunching away. And then I put – for some reason I just put my hand on my tummy and I said, oh, my gosh, I've got a massive hole my tummy. Like no idea that that was there, what it was, anything.
00:14:51
Kayla
And then I guess it wasn't – and then I kind of saw a physio at that point and said – because there was no evaluation or anything of, you know, coming back from partum into sport or anything.
00:14:59
Troy
Yeah, i yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:15:02
Kayla
it was just you're back in the system, – That was a huge shock to me, having that big hole in my stomach when I was doing that. And then so I guess fast forward, I was kind of like when I had Maxwell, I made sure that I went and saw someone to try and correct.
00:15:19
Kayla
But, yeah, I mean, I was i was full training and had no idea I had a massive gap in my tummy, which was crazy.
00:15:28
Samantha Child
God, and even at that point, like, was it just that the the physios from our team, like, helped you sort of resolve that?
00:15:35
Kayla
Well, we kind of just carried on, but it was kind of like, no like if you they kind of said, oh, yeah, you can, like when you've had a child, you can like, you know, take together and stuff because it wasn't affecting me as such.
00:15:49
Troy
Yeah.
00:15:49
Samantha Child
can
00:15:50
Kayla
and Yeah, just, but the physio.
00:15:53
Troy
So you obviously had no pain or anything.
00:15:54
Kayla
No, no.
00:15:55
Troy
My interest would be just be ah like, if you're doing all the, you know, I guess they'd be looking at as an what muscles are you using, you know?
00:16:03
Kayla
Exactly, and, like, for future, really.
00:16:05
Troy
Yeah.
00:16:06
Kayla
Like, for now, like, now it's, like, you can imagine, like, it probably needs an operation to, because but you know, like, if I knew about it back then, potentially, not necessarily, potentially I could have worked on to getting it closed.
00:16:07
Troy
Yeah. Yeah.
00:16:17
Samantha Child
Thank you.
00:16:22
Troy
yeah
00:16:22
Kayla
But then now, progressively, obviously after Maxwell I got a little bit of help and I think it was definitely better. But, yeah, now it's just, like, apart.
00:16:31
Troy
So, um yeah, well, i was just going to say, ah you you obviously, and with each subsequent pregnancy, a little bit more and rehab it back and then stretch it more.
00:16:37
Kayla
learn from it yes yeah and then
00:16:42
Troy
ah Yeah.
00:16:43
Kayla
yeah yeah yeah so I guess probably maybe if I had that awareness initially ah potentially could have got a better job of it back then never know um yeah that kind of knowledge and all that like I had no idea about that like I felt was just like yeah so um yeah
00:16:44
Troy
Yeah.
00:16:55
Troy
yeah
00:17:02
Troy
Thank you.
00:17:05
Samantha Child
was there anything Was there anything else like obviously that's a pretty like major physical challenge and you've mentioned you know a couple of that early recovery would have been quite challenging.
00:17:10
Kayla
year Yeah.
00:17:14
Samantha Child
Is there anything else even like mentally that you found difficult during that time like in terms of maybe even just like being a parent within the environment and having Addie like having support for her like how did you kind of feel with all that sort of thing?
00:17:27
Kayla
Yeah.
00:17:31
Kayla
Yeah, so um I think I came up to a camp
Challenges of Being a New Mother on Tour
00:17:36
Troy
Thank you.
00:17:37
Kayla
in just November, December up in Auckland with her and that was my first, I guess, training with, it was just mainly a training with the Black Sticks up in Auckland and then the questions come, can you come to Champions Trophy?
00:17:50
Kayla
And I wasn't prepared, like i was still breastfeeding. I was just like, i I'm not mentally prepared to do that. I don't think I'm ready um because it was like in a month's time.
00:17:56
Samantha Child
Yeah.
00:17:59
Kayla
i was like, I just can't. yeah I don't even I think she might have been only eight months nine months or something and I was like nah I don't think I can like I'm not ready to do that so i stood firm on that one but I said I'll try and come to the camp the following series um because I was like well gonna have to get her off breastfeeding but then she ended up coming on tour anyway with us for that first tour um with mum so that was a that was easier but I just knew as we were doing that it was going to get harder and harder um so we kind of transitioned her outer not coming on tour
00:18:08
Samantha Child
Oh,
00:18:14
Troy
you
00:18:38
Samantha Child
yeah how did you how did you find that first tour like having her there because I think um you know like lots of different sports have different um ways in which they manage it right some sports can afford to like resource their the mums to bring baby with them i think Troy and I have both done it the opposite way where we've gone away without them like how did you find that first experience and of taking her away with you
00:18:59
Troy
Okay.
00:19:02
Kayla
yeah um it was good but then it was also you good and hard at the same time I'd say yeah like because you're trying to immerse yourself back in the team and try and not ah because it wasn't that common I guess around our environment it was kind of like where's where's the line like how do you differentiate when when should she be around the group and when she shouldn't and unfortunately on the flight over I don't know if you remember this Sam but
00:19:12
Samantha Child
Yeah.
00:19:20
Samantha Child
a
00:19:31
Kayla
She was, like, grizzling at the airport, like, terribly.
00:19:31
Troy
you
00:19:33
Kayla
And mum was, like, we were, like, because mum came and I was, like, she was, like, didn't we just didn't know what was wrong. We literally got on the plane and mum was, like, I don't have to go.
00:19:44
Kayla
i can go. I can take her off. i And I was, like, mate, we're off to Argentina. And i was, like, no, no, I'll be fine. And she, like, literally vomited all over me, like, and, like, diarrhoea.
00:19:55
Samantha Child
Yes, I can't, I do kind of remember.
00:19:56
Kayla
Like, so she was sick. She got sick. She just constantly spewed the whole flight over.
00:20:02
Troy
Oh.
00:20:02
Kayla
it's my So that was another dynamic.
00:20:02
Samantha Child
Poor dad.
00:20:04
Kayla
She got sick. oh like And so we were trying to juggle that. I wasn't in the same room, but I was next door, I think. I wasn't rooming with him. But, um yeah, so that was – and then she came right, which was fine. But, yeah, all of that extra drama on top of it with trying to come back for your first game and, like, the balance of, yeah,
00:20:29
Kayla
not disrupting the team probably was my biggest concern.
00:20:33
Troy
And you would have had that on your, constantly there on your brain, you know, like thinking about it
00:20:36
Kayla
Yes. Yeah, like I could hear her wake up next door and I'm going, oh, is my roommate getting woken? I was like, you know, like all of that kind of stuff because you I guess you naturally just wake to them.
00:20:44
Samantha Child
Oh.
00:20:44
Troy
Yeah.
00:20:49
Kayla
So then it was –
00:20:50
Troy
Yeah, totally. Yeah.
00:20:52
Kayla
ah You don't know if the girls just say that, but the girls really enjoyed it when that you know they told me that they enjoyed having it because it was ah actually like more of a, I don't know, it was just getting away from the intense environment that you're in.
00:21:04
Kayla
So it was quite relaxing for the girls.
00:21:05
Samantha Child
We so did. I remember that so clearly.
00:21:08
Kayla
Yeah. Yeah.
00:21:09
Samantha Child
And I remember, if I'm being honest, I remember being, like, surprised because, for context, Troy, like, our coach was someone who, he was quite serious a lot of the time, and he was really big on, like, um...
00:21:22
Samantha Child
he got very He got really nervous about things distracting the team a lot of the time.
00:21:25
Troy
Yeah. Yeah.
00:21:25
Samantha Child
So he would try and like always minimize things that he thought were distractions for performance. And so I remember being like, oh my God, amazing that like, you know, I was i was perhaps a little bit surprised that he allowed, i like not allowed it but he was like cool with it But it was was just...
00:21:34
Troy
yeah
00:21:37
Kayla
Yeah. I think you could have encouraged it.
00:21:39
Troy
yeah
00:21:40
Kayla
Yeah.
00:21:40
Samantha Child
It was so great. And maybe because he had recently become, he might have recently become a grandfather himself at that time.
00:21:42
Kayla
Yeah.
00:21:45
Kayla
miss you here here
00:21:47
Samantha Child
But it was the best thing ever because like, of course, it didn't distract from what you were doing.
00:21:48
Kayla
yet
00:21:53
Samantha Child
And it just meant that like, when you'd had a hard game and everything had gone for shit, which it inevitably did because we were playing Argentina, who were like very good.
00:21:58
Kayla
Yeah. i haven
00:22:00
Samantha Child
You just had this like joyful thing to come back to for like a few minutes.
00:22:03
Troy
Yeah.
00:22:03
Kayla
Yeah,
00:22:04
Samantha Child
And it was so lovely. And I would have felt the same, Kay. Like I would have been like, make sure I'm not a hassle, like not to try it, like, you know, but it's funny because when you're on the other side of it, you, you, bit you don't notice the way that, it um you know, you probably felt a bit stressed, but like, God, it was lovely.
00:22:10
Kayla
yeah. Yeah.
00:22:12
Troy
Yeah. It's not for you. Yeah.
00:22:21
Samantha Child
It was so nice having her there just to be like, oh, life's okay.
00:22:21
Kayla
yeah We should just be, yeah, crawling around us when we're stretching and, you know, just after team walks and stuff and that kind of thing or when we're going for lunch.
00:22:24
Samantha Child
You know?
00:22:28
Samantha Child
Yeah.
00:22:30
Kayla
So, um yeah. So that was probably my thing.
00:22:35
Troy
Can I ask, i I'm going to assume, well, i shouldn't assume, um but what to to bring your mum and Addison along, was that at your own cost?
00:22:46
Kayla
yeah Yeah, pretty much. um I was actually lucky enough, Sir Owen Glenn actually, he gave me a bit of money to help out for that year, which was pretty pretty cool, so um which helped yeah pay my mum as such and then also for her to come on tour.
00:22:48
Troy
Yeah.
00:22:59
Troy
No.
00:23:08
Kayla
um yeah i think it was just it would have just been flight with flights and stuff and then yeah I don't think I don't think it was too outrageous the bill as such but um but yeah was fortunate enough that Sir Onglen helped out a little bit even which was nice
00:23:14
Troy
Yeah. Nice.
00:23:30
Samantha Child
That's cool. Something that we've kind of been asking everyone is like when you did go back to training and compet competition, do you feel like becoming mum, whether it was, you know, the first time or the second time when Maxwell came along to do you feel like that changed your relationship with like training and competition and high performance at all?
00:23:45
Troy
Thank you.
00:23:52
Samantha Child
Like did your perspective shift? Did anything sort of change for you mentally? Yeah.
00:23:57
Kayla
um I probably became like because I was obviously training back here I think we weren't centralized then when I came back in so it was just training back here I was quite probably like get in do the job work hard and get out of there back home so i became really like quite I guess maybe a little bit grumpy in sessions with like some of the other athletes who were mucking around because I was like nah nah nah mate I'm here to try and get a good session in and I'm out of here like if you'd be so I was like if you muck around just go I remember vividly like just riffing into the one
00:24:24
Troy
Yeah,
00:24:28
Troy
because you're time poor, right? It's like.
Physical Recovery and Rehabilitation Postpartum
00:24:37
Kayla
session because I was just like you know um I've got to get back to you know back to the kids and it was late at night and stuff so um yeah I think
00:24:37
Samantha Child
you
00:24:47
Troy
And you're and you're tired.
00:24:48
Kayla
Yeah, yeah, and I think so I was just like ri probably bit more like efficient with my time, more diligent and just went hard within the time that I had.
00:24:53
Troy
And.
00:24:58
Kayla
Like I remember, I mean, with – Edison when I was trying to come back in and I would like just go down to the athletics track and just like she kept sure on the side of the track and I'm like trying to do these laps around the you're just kind of trying to make it work eh and you just fit it when you can and make yeah make it work kind of thing so yeah that was probably the only thing really um yeah I tried to as I said before just tried to keep the
00:25:31
Kayla
yeah keep it as normal as what it was before I guess like try not to disrupt that is probably the the main thing um which is hard at times but you just kind of went i once I put my mind to it that's what I was going to do I just had to kind of focus in on that and it was hard like every time you'd leave leave the kids at home or whatever or that that was that got harder and harder every time I got better and I got worse yeah
00:26:01
Troy
Can I ask, is there um much difference between, um because you've done this twice, right, so you've Addison, and then was it, did you say, was it Maxwell?
00:26:10
Kayla
oh yeah yeah
00:26:11
Troy
Yeah. Second time, what was there many differences in your experience between with the two or is it was it actually pretty similar for both of those journeys?
00:26:22
Kayla
yeah i was with after maxwell i wasn't really intending to coming back at all but i was going to a the gym regularly and like training and it was oh yeah so um in turn yeah it wasn't on my radar to come back to six so it was probably different but I did notice when I've I obviously was a longer period between um like going back to hockey in the sense I only dragged along to a tournament pretty much and started playing and that's how it kind of kicked off but whereas
00:26:38
Troy
Yeah, okay.
00:26:52
Samantha Child
Thank
00:26:55
Troy
And how many months postpartum was that for Maxwell?
00:26:58
Kayla
Yeah, um I think,
00:27:00
Troy
Do you remember? m
00:27:04
Kayla
I can't remember, when did I come back? It was 2019, I think. So I had Maxwell 2018. Oh, it wasn't that long after. It wasn't much of a break.
00:27:14
Kayla
um He was born 2018.
00:27:19
Kayla
I might have come in into 2019, 2020, and then it got pushed out, eh, think.
00:27:25
Samantha Child
Yeah.
00:27:25
Kayla
Yeah.
00:27:25
Troy
The 2021, yeah. Okay.
00:27:25
Kayla
Yeah. Yeah, so, well, I had him in June, maybe, I'm sure he was a bit more older than one, but um I went over to America and played in just this fun tournament for fun, pretty much came back, played NHC or whatever it was called, the NHL, and then you kind of
00:27:39
Troy
okay
00:27:48
Kayla
came back in after that so i did notice different things like because I'd had longer like I'd done a lot of the one thing I learned was the proprioception and stuff and because I was doing we'd brought a gym back here so I was working out in that gym so ah found the transition back into hockey a lot easier than when i came back after Addison because I didn't do any proprioception or any of that like finer detail stuff I was just kind of back out there and I was tripping over my feet left right and center so
00:28:02
Troy
Yeah. Yeah.
00:28:18
Troy
yeah
00:28:19
Kayla
that was That was really interesting to me when I was like, i was like, my gosh, what's happening here?
00:28:22
Troy
yeah
00:28:24
Kayla
I'm like falling over my feet and I'm just running trying to dribble a ball. Like, you know, it was, it was, so I learned that.
00:28:31
Troy
No, funny that you say that.
00:28:32
Kayla
Yeah.
00:28:34
Troy
Sorry, this is and we can cut this out, but it's just more that i just want to share When I got back in the ring after um having my um daughter, um I had to fight four months postpartum, so I pretty much had to, and I had C-section, so it was just all this big thing.
00:28:36
Kayla
Yeah.
00:28:36
Samantha Child
I'm fine.
00:28:42
Kayla
Yeah.
00:28:45
Kayla
Wow.
00:28:47
Troy
But anyway, I remember the first time I sparred, and I would have only been like,
00:28:47
Samantha Child
I'm fine.
00:28:48
Kayla
Yeah.
00:28:52
Troy
Oh, seven weeks postpartum, something like that.
00:28:55
Samantha Child
Whoa.
00:28:55
Troy
But anyway, it was like my balance had gone completely. Like I was leaning over my front, now you know, I mean, we're unilateral anyway, but like just everything just went out the window.
00:29:00
Kayla
Yeah.
00:29:04
Kayla
Yeah.
00:29:06
Troy
And I was like, what's wrong with me? I've gone back to like, I'm a beginner. So it's funny that you've said that because I'm kind of just going, is this something like, does something kind of change in our bodies with, i don't know, you know, we're carrying differently.
00:29:11
Kayla
Yeah.
00:29:16
Kayla
yeah
00:29:17
Samantha Child
I think it, I reckon it must
00:29:19
Troy
Yeah.
00:29:20
Kayla
Yeah, I reckon, because I was like, oh I just was like embarrassed because I was like, we're literally just like passing a ball from like one to the other and I was like trapping it like I'm about to fall over.
00:29:33
Kayla
Like i was just like, whoa.
00:29:36
Samantha Child
i I, yeah, it's so, I remember the same trailer like I went to my first.
00:29:36
Troy
like, well, I'm better than this. I know I'm better than this.
00:29:39
Kayla
Yeah. Yeah. day Yeah.
00:29:43
Samantha Child
and my first camp which was like probably earlier than it should have been but I needed to go before and I vividly remember being in this drill where like everyone was watching and I went to pass it and I honestly just fell the fuck over and I was like so mortified and it was like Phil was the new coach and he didn't know me and I was like I swear I don't usually do this but you're right like almost your body's like got used to a new center of gravity for nine months and then you go back to not having it there and then you're like Oh
00:29:47
Kayla
you yet
00:30:02
Kayla
Yeah.
00:30:05
Kayla
I know.
00:30:10
Kayla
Yeah.
00:30:10
Troy
Well,
00:30:11
Kayla
Yeah. Yeah. yes sorry
00:30:14
Troy
and, you know, it's kind of like by the end you're like waddling around, right?
00:30:17
Samantha Child
yeah
00:30:17
Troy
So you're like this and then all of a sudden you kind of got this weight off but you don't kind of know what to, I don't know, i was i was science to realla it was eh?
00:30:22
Kayla
wilkin yeah
00:30:24
Troy
It was a bit of humble pie, eh, when you come back after a baby.
00:30:25
Kayla
and Yeah.
00:30:28
Samantha Child
my god, yeah.
00:30:28
Kayla
Yeah.
00:30:29
Troy
Yeah.
00:30:29
Kayla
And then see after Maxwell, was like, oh, shoot, I was going away to America and I was like, oh, better go do a quick session before I go over there.
00:30:30
Samantha Child
oh
00:30:36
Kayla
So I went just to a club training but felt real good. It was like I'd never left. I just had all the touch but I reckon it was because I'd done all this proprioception and stuff which was really interesting, I found.
00:30:45
Samantha Child
Yeah.
00:30:45
Troy
Yeah.
00:30:48
Kayla
Yeah.
00:30:48
Troy
Yeah.
00:30:49
Samantha Child
That is interesting.
00:30:50
Kayla
Yeah.
00:30:50
Troy
Kind of able to pick up a little bit of where you left.
00:30:50
Samantha Child
and
00:30:52
Troy
Yeah. ah yeah
00:30:53
Kayla
Yeah. was quite
00:30:54
Troy
and
00:30:55
Kayla
Yeah. was quite odd
00:30:58
Samantha Child
um when you kind of look back on both those so like both um with addy and maxwell is there anything that you haven't shared from either of those periods of time that you want to share or maybe like just stuff that you wish you'd known beforehand like you talked to the maybe just doing some proprioception before coming back with addy is there anything else that you can think of
00:31:14
Kayla
Yeah. Um,
00:31:18
Kayla
um I think, mainly yeah, mainly that it would be good to have a program, like a postpartum program to follow um and like, almost like a health check.
00:31:29
Kayla
You know, like, you have your health for the HP when they do all the testing, but, like, actually a ah guideline to work to to actually –
00:31:38
Troy
I alright
00:31:38
Kayla
know where you're at um and if you should be getting back in because like I think that's probably the problem is we just think we know we're ready we're probably not you know like whether it's going to a woman's health um or physio or whatever and um all of that and I knew none of that stuff like I was just like oh yeah this is I was just like, oh no, it should be all right, you know, kind of get back out there and give it a go.
00:32:03
Samantha Child
show her
00:32:05
Kayla
um But yeah, any of that information would have been good. um Like, yeah, I don't think there's anything else around that, yeah, more.
00:32:17
Kayla
to share unless there's any questions you've got around it. I guess what I've, like I did, so there was a girl in the GB hockey team um who got pregnant and wanted to try and come back before Paris, I think.
00:32:29
Kayla
I don't think she made it because I think she was a maybe a fringe player, but she had a phone call with me what to ask all these questions because Katie had set it up because, you know, because she was like, oh, Kayla went through this, so maybe you could.
00:32:31
Troy
I'm going to.
00:32:36
Samantha Child
Oh wow.
00:32:39
Samantha Child
Oh, that's so cool.
00:32:43
Kayla
And so I was just giving her as much information as I code which was pretty cool from my experience um and um for her fitness was fine like she was quite fit um but it was her hockey that she was she felt she was bit behind on so um and i think she they they had just brought in a maternity leave all gb sport or something like that woman yeah or there's a maternity leave i just brought it in
00:32:47
Samantha Child
Yeah, cool.
00:33:01
Samantha Child
Yeah.
00:33:01
Troy
Thank you.
00:33:10
Samantha Child
Wow.
00:33:12
Samantha Child
Yeah. i think they think they've developed some, um like a pretty comprehensive set of guidelines quite recently, which is, which is cool.
00:33:19
Kayla
peace have they yeah yeah um the only other thing that probably i look back on now is i think the usa women's soccer football team have always done it i think they they just posted something on instagram like they're maybe they're 20 oh yeah something child that has been on tour with them so i reckon it would be
00:33:21
Samantha Child
Yeah.
00:33:38
Samantha Child
um
00:33:41
Kayla
an interesting space to see how they do it because, yeah, I guess team sports and individual sports is different as well.
00:33:45
Samantha Child
And
00:33:48
Kayla
But I just, yeah, we're probably quite far behind as and they as a country no information.
00:33:52
Samantha Child
I think that's it. And that's that's what that that's sort of what we're, Troy and I, like when we first started talking about this this whole sphere,
00:33:54
Kayla
Well, lack of.
00:34:02
Samantha Child
So in our cohort, we've got two or three netballers, for example. And to them, this is like, this is not groundbreaking, you know, because they're like, we've we've always done this.
00:34:07
Kayla
Yeah.
00:34:10
Troy
one wow
00:34:11
Samantha Child
We've always had babies and come back because netball is obviously a sport dominated by females.
00:34:13
Kayla
Yeast. Yeast.
00:34:17
Samantha Child
ah again, the point being is that, like, there's this UK athlete who's having to ring you over in New Zealand to get some advice, like, and the point of, you know, having these conversations is, like, if there was someone in New Zealand, like, even if, even if they only take, like, one little bit away, like, oh, some proprioception, or, oh, like,
00:34:26
Kayla
Yeast.
00:34:33
Kayla
yeah
00:34:36
Samantha Child
Kayla found it hard like having her but you know just little things it's like it might just be one thing that really like changes it for someone else but because it's we don't really talk about it that often and the conversations don't happen you know that freely within sports and we're all sort of just like doing it in our own little bubbles.
00:34:42
Kayla
Yeah.
00:34:50
Kayla
Yeah.
00:34:53
Kayla
Yes, yeah, differently.
00:34:54
Troy
I think that I think also like you know when you um because everyone like everyone's experience is going to be different right but sometimes and you know when someone goes to like I wish someone had told me this is going a little bit off from the sport thing but I wish someone had told me that hey about day three-ish your nipples are going to be really fucking sore
00:35:01
Kayla
Yes.
00:35:14
Kayla
Yeah.
00:35:15
Samantha Child
yeah
00:35:15
Kayla
you
00:35:15
Troy
yeah All right.
00:35:16
Samantha Child
Right?
00:35:16
Troy
Don't give up.
00:35:16
Kayla
Yeah.
00:35:17
Troy
But if, but you know, but and if i if like, if you're a bit prepared with that kind of stuff, you can go, it so like second time around, was like, okay, nipples going to be a little bit sore as baby learns to think.
00:35:21
Kayla
Yeah.
00:35:25
Troy
I'm going to make sure I've got all the cold packs in need. I'm just going to be prepared. And so it's kind of that same thing with like, people can reach out, get the information, know that, Hey, this could happen here. And this is what you do.
00:35:35
Kayla
yes
00:35:37
Troy
Doesn't happen. Fantastic. But you're prepared, you know,
00:35:41
Kayla
yes
00:35:41
Troy
i just but Because we don't talk about it so much, it's kind of just assumed that, yeah, I don't know, i just it just would be nice if it was something that it was a little bit more discussed.
00:35:43
Kayla
No. Yes.
00:35:46
Kayla
yeah
00:35:50
Kayla
who
The Importance of a Support Network
00:35:52
Kayla
yeah even like the yeah who looked like she was asking questions like who looked after your kid like you know kid when you went away and like how did that work you know like all the time I said oh yeah it was pretty hard like when I first left like you know leave them behind for how many of the weeks but um yeah so yeah just all of that kind of stuff because actually yeah yes
00:35:52
Samantha Child
Yeah. Yeah.
00:35:52
Troy
Discussed more.
00:36:02
Troy
Yeah.
00:36:13
Troy
And it is something, because it might be something she's like, you know, you're like, oh you know, baby came with me. And she's like, oh, well, I can't do that, you know.
00:36:21
Kayla
Yeah.
00:36:21
Troy
But, you know, youre just getting that talk and it's like, okay, well, I know someone, Sam, Sam, she did this and baby stayed at home and husband, you you know, but just that chat about it that you go, okay, cool.
00:36:22
Kayla
Yeah.
00:36:28
Kayla
Yeah.
00:36:28
Samantha Child
That
00:36:31
Kayla
Yes.
00:36:32
Samantha Child
dialogue.
00:36:33
Troy
This is, okay, realistically, is this going to work as well, you know.
00:36:36
Kayla
Yes. Yeah, that's what I think she was, yeah, I guess a reassurance of how how this is going to work kind of thing for her and her situation, yeah.
00:36:44
Samantha Child
Yeah.
00:36:44
Troy
Yeah.
00:36:47
Kayla
So, yeah.
00:36:48
Samantha Child
obviously we're like talking about this because we think it's important to like give like females opportunity to stay in sport for longer right I'd just love to know do you have like a a perception or an opinion on yeah like why it's actually important that pregnancy and motherhood can become a part of a like a natural part of an athlete's career
00:36:53
Kayla
Yeah.
00:36:58
Kayla
Yeah.
00:37:12
Kayla
Yeah.
00:37:12
Troy
And
00:37:13
Kayla
ah Well, I reckon you – because you become a lot more efficient with your time and you just like – you just – I think you can just, you can grow more as an athlete, I reckon, like, because you just, you've got a real good balance.
00:37:29
Kayla
um I mean, it ebbs and flows in different, you know, when when you're away on tour and stuff, but I just think that balance is there, and it's like, and it's something like, you know, motherhood is hard, so it's actually something for you as well, like, you can
00:37:30
Samantha Child
yeah
00:37:46
Kayla
feel like you I feel like you bounce back a lot quicker and you're just like you know i quite motivated. But, um ah yeah, I probably also think it like it should be discussed more, I guess, within women's environments and teams or individuals. like It almost should be part of your IPP, your performance band. like Because, yeah, I just think – there's so many more that are doing it which is so great but it's um yeah I just think there should be more yeah definitely I mean what you guys have touched on and what you're doing is just their support around it and I think it should just be a natural thing I don't think it should be like you know walls go up and that's like you're not talked to for a while but I don't know how that's going to work in that space but yeah
00:38:37
Samantha Child
And I think... i think I mean, still massive, you know, credit to anyone who does it. A lot of the examples we do see are probably athletes who are from more of that, like, resourced sports space, like sports who, and um maybe I'm generalising, like, it's not not everyone, but, yeah, it does seem to be that those more sports that, from the outside, probably have a bit more resource to support these athletes, you know, maybe employ people that can do X, Y, and Z, and and so...
00:38:43
Kayla
Yeah.
00:39:05
Kayla
Yeah.
00:39:07
Samantha Child
for for athletes who are not in sports like that which there are many it's like these yeah these are the little things like these conversations might be the thing that's the most like valuable resource to them because they don't have anything from anywhere else at this point
00:39:09
Troy
Thank
00:39:11
Kayla
Yeah.
00:39:20
Kayla
yeah yeah and it's obviously yeah as said before it can come at a cost too right on your own you know like so if you can't you know afford to be able to do it then it makes it pretty hard yeah as well so it's all that balance of different support I guess when you're coming back in the environments but um yeah
00:39:33
Samantha Child
hmm
00:39:41
Samantha Child
Yeah. Let's
00:39:45
Samantha Child
let's go
00:39:45
Troy
Can I ask, ah what is one piece of advice that you would give another athlete considering pregnancy during their career?
00:39:53
Kayla
in their career get prepared with support networks around you I think would be the biggest thing and making sure like you've got to have that family support behind you like I think there's no way I could have done it without especially my parents helping out and then obviously George as well being supportive of us me going back into the environment
00:40:19
Troy
Thank you.
00:40:22
Kayla
um but my parents and that a huge help and george's parents too after edison i think you know like when was come up to centralization up in auckland i think because mom and dad my mom parents were still working so they would have edison like friday said day sunday monday tuesday and then caroline and brayden were have the rest of the yeah rest of the week
00:40:45
Kayla
I love seeing how more and more athletes are doing it um and making
Motherhood's Positive Impact on Motivation and Focus
00:40:51
Kayla
it work.
00:40:52
Kayla
I think I answered that question with, yeah, would be just having the right support people around, i guess it's like that, who's on your bus, kind of, you know, making sure that it's even tighter again, and
00:40:58
Troy
Yeah.
00:41:04
Kayla
um knowing that you will go through emotional roller coasters, I guess, and just, yeah. Yeah, that's brilliant.
00:41:12
Troy
I mean, I think if you even, like, if you look at all three of our experiences, all of us had support, you know, whether that's the, all of us, our partners supported us.
00:41:17
Kayla
Yes. i Yeah. youth Yes. Yeah.
00:41:21
Troy
um And then whether that's, you know, um close family, friends or family, but yeah, you just, you, you, cause you just can't do it without it.
00:41:30
Kayla
Nah. Yeah. Yeah,
00:41:32
Samantha Child
thank you so much kayla that was yeah great great insight and like i feel like every person we talk to just brings like a different little nugget of of advice or gold so thank you so much appreciate your appreciate your insights
00:41:34
Kayla
that
00:41:43
Kayla
good