2 days ago
Mums turn to football after children to find community and support
Dramatic premiership wins reminisced about in the change rooms and rivalries that outlast playing careers, playing footy for your country town is a rite of passage.
As more women join the game, new traditions and a new miniature support base have been born.
Georgia Carroll had her first child nine months ago, but is back this season, playing for Brothers in Rockhampton.
Arriving at training with footy boots in hand, the nursing student said the support from other mums in the team was important to her.
"That's probably the most special part, you can go and talk to a lot of the other mums about things that you might be curious as to whether they have experienced it as well," Ms Carroll said.
"If you need to step away to breastfeed or something like that, I feel very comfortable to do that because there are two other mums at the moment who are currently breastfeeding as well."
The team environment and sense of community made her desperate to return to the field as soon as possible after giving birth.
"It's one of the most important things in my life. I wouldn't have met Zac, my partner, and I wouldn't have 90 per cent of the friends I have today," she said.
Ms Carroll is one of a growing number of mums in the sport, and AFL Queensland has thrown its support behind them.
Head of AFL Queensland and International Trisha Squires said the sports body was committed to empowering women at all levels of the game.
"Mums are absolutely encouraged to play, and we take great pride knowing they are making connections with their teammates and community club," Ms Squires said.
"Regional competitions and communities benefit our national league, as so many of our players were introduced to AFL in their local towns."
But returning to any sport after having children can be difficult.
Researcher Mel Hayman, who led the development of the 2020 Australian Exercise During Pregnancy Guidelines, said one of the best ways for mums to get back into sport was by setting milestones, rather than timelines.
Another player in the AFL Capricornia league Amelia Bartlem said she started with low-intensity exercise after recovering from a caesarean section.
"I had six weeks before I could get around and go for my big walks, and eventually I got back into playing AFL," she said.
"I lacked core strength, so it made it really hard to play footy without building it up."
Dr Hayman said an increased number of women were returning to sport at both the community and elite levels.
Rockhampton Panthers AFL team co-captain Laila Howard struggled with her mental health after the birth of her daughter three years ago.
"I've never played footy before, but I was experiencing some really bad postpartum anxiety," she said.
"My partner saw the ad and said you should go down and try it out, and I went down and absolutely loved it.
"My main circle aside from family is football right now … we love to catch up outside of footy."
Ms Howard said it was inspiring the next generation.
"My three-year-old daughter is always saying, 'I'm a footy girl', and I said, 'You're going to have to wait a couple more years.'"
Dr Hayman said the sense of community in sport was an important element.
"It's the adult interaction, and it's also time to yourself as well where you can just focus on yourself, do something that you love doing, so that again you can then be a better mum," Dr Hayman said.
Ms Carroll agreed.
"I think a lot of people talk about losing their identity when they have a kid, and I don't feel like I've done that," she said.
