21-05-2025
Rachael Finch backtracks after revealing her kids don't play any team sports following backlash over her parenting approach: 'Turns out tennis is a team sport'
Rachael Finch has done a swift backpedal after copping backlash for suggesting her children don't play team sports - insisting this week that tennis counts as one.
The former Miss Universe Australia, 36, sparked debate after sharing an Instagram clip showing her husband Michael Miziner and daughter Violet training on the tennis court.
'People ask, 'Why don't your kids play team sports?' she wrote over the video, before adding: 'We are their team.'
She went on to explain that she prefers to support her children – Violet, 9, and Dominic, 6 – directly, writing: 'I'll carry the water bottles. I'll chop up the oranges. I don't care what I do - just so long as I get to be on this team.'
But the remark didn't sit well with many of her followers, who quickly slammed the approach as isolating and overly intense.
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'My kids do play team sports, that doesn't mean my husband and I aren't their team,' one critic fired back.
Another added: 'I think children need to be playing with other children and not just around their parents all the time. That's just my opinion.'
Rachael appeared unfazed with the comments, sharing one follower's negative remark to her Stories with the casual caption: 'Okie dokie.'
The model mum then returned to Instagram to clarify her stance and explain how her kids do participate in team environments.
'Why don't the kids play team sport? Well, they play team sport,' she said in a new video posted to her Stories.
'Turns out in tennis you have doubles and, um, you also have squads where the kids get together and they have two or three times a week they're in a squad with five, six, seven other kids and they play against each other and with each other.'
She continued: 'They go to the camps and they do… yeah, there's a huge community focus. Even their opponents become their friends.'
Rachael also pointed out that her daughter Violet often trains with the same girls she ends up facing in competitions – creating what she described as a strong support network.
'Every time there's a tournament, you travel together. We spend time together. It's very much community-focused,' she said.
'Every sport at the end of the day is a team sport because no successful athlete gets there by themselves. There's a team of coaches, there's a team of other competitors and partners and trainers – and the family unit.'
The clarification comes months after the couple made headlines for sharing footage of their children undergoing intense training drills, prompting further criticism from concerned followers.
In a November post, Rachael and Michael uploaded a montage of Violet and Dominic performing box jumps, squats and advanced tennis drills – by day and night.
'They may or may not play at Wimbledon,' she captioned the video. 'But they will learn a lot about themselves and what they're capable of in the process.'
She added: 'It's our job to figure out ways to teach them drive, passion, self-respect and work ethic… how to show up, even when you don't feel like it.'
But while Rachael maintains the rigorous routine is teaching life lessons, others weren't so convinced – with one unimpressed follower writing: 'Really horrible to watch. Unfollowing.'
