Thea Slatyer for Women's Football Interview

Thea Slatyer for Women's Football Interview

Women's football or soccer as you may call it is experiencing a huge growth and success at the moment and is now the number two most played women's sport in Australia behind netball. Football in general (as you may well know) is the most played sport in the world - played in over 600 countries.

Interview with Thea Slatyer

Thea Slatyer has played for Australia 42 times including at World Cups and The Olympics and currently plays for the Newcastle Jets - to complement her football income (very few of the players earn enough from football alone), she has worked as a bodyguard (she has a black belt in karate and a license to carry a weapon) for Russell Crowe, Elle McPherson, Mischa Barton and many others and as an industrial abseiler on buildings all over Sydney. She also has a pilot's license, is in to meditation and writing, and DJs at private parties all to fund her number one passion: football.

Question: Your number one passion is football- what do you love most about the game?

Thea Slatyer: It would have to be the people that you meet. The friends you make become your family.


Question: What originally inspired you to try football?

Thea Slatyer: When I was five, at kindergarten the boys used to kick around a tennis ball in the playground and they were short a player and one of them asked me to play and that was it!


Question: What football team do you play for?

Thea Slatyer: Newcastle Jets and Australia.


Question: How often do you train?

Thea Slatyer: Everyday!


Question: Outside specific training sessions how do you keep yourself fit?

Thea Slatyer: I do individual training such as going to the gym, cross-training, martial arts and yoga.


Question: What events, playing for Australia, have you participated in?

Thea Slatyer: The Athens Olympics, 2003 World Cup and 2007 World Cup.


Question: Can you talk about the experience of representing Australia in the Olympics?

Thea Slatyer: The Olympics is most probably the highlight of my career, there is nothing quite like competing in an Olympic Games - you're amongst the best of the best, all in the one place, from all over the world- it is a unique experience that is unforgettable. The Olympics is probably the one time that you really get treated as a true, professional athlete.


Question: What other jobs do you have to complement your football career?

Thea Slatyer: I do industrial abseiling; I am rope access technician and we abseil of buildings and do any type of work on buildings. I have abseiled off the Sydney Opera House before. I also work at the Australian Jockey Club in the House Mounted Security Team, we ride around on horses, similar to the Mounted Police but it is a privately own secure of the Australian Jockey Club; I work on race days, events and events at Randwick, Sydney. On the side I DJ, casually, at private parties. I DJ for the girls in the team, if they want it.


Question: How do you go about ensuring your consuming the right food?

Thea Slatyer: We do get told what to eat and everyone does have a sense for what is good for you and what is not.


Question: Can you give us an idea of your daily diet?

Thea Slatyer: I eat a lot of fruit, drink a lot of milk and try and have a really high protein diet. I eat a lot of red meat, being a female athlete you have to try and keep your iron levels up.


Question: What is a typical day like for you?

Thea Slatyer: I get up at 5:30-6am and go to work, abseiling for eight hours and then, go to training for another two hours. At the moment I am playing for Newcastle, so I am driving up to Newcastle, twice a week and I'm there for a couple of hours, then I drive back. Then, I do it all again, the next day.

You've got to put in the time, to play. We play in the W league at the moment; we have games every week and play all over the countries. The Newcastle Jets compete against Sydney FC and Brisbane Roar - all the A League teams are in the W league.

It's pretty busy, you have to sacrifice a lot of things, and your social life does tend to get put on hold. Sometimes you need to find a balance and a complete timeout from football; that's why it's important to have hobbies and do things on the side. I like to ride my motorbike, on the weekends. Weekends are pretty packed out, we just flew back from Perth on the Red Eye- all week is pretty busy but it's a matter of time management. It's about being able to find the time, not necessarily on the weekend but at anytime to have time out and to do yoga or any mediation.


Interview by Brooke Hunter

Visit the official page for womens football in Australia: www.Facebook.com/girlsfc