Whether daughters are home or away, ‘Matildads’ ready to celebrate
Proud of our history-making Matildas? Imagine what their fathers must be feeling. Three chuffed dads share childhood memories of the athletes who have captured the hearts of Australia.
NSW
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They’re among the proudest dads in the country – but for our very own ‘Matildads’ – Father’s Day is bittersweet. Because while the pig-tailed little girls they drove from match to match pursing their dreams have kicked all the goals to be at the top of their game, their success in soccer has meant they live all over the world, so most haven’t been home for Father’s Day in years.
And that’s emotional, Ellie Carpenter’s dad Scott told The Sunday Telegraph.
The Cowra PE teacher was physically moved thinking about how much he misses his daughter – and talking about how the world knows her name and how she’s helped her teammates change the game – well, as a parent, and especially today as a dad, he couldn’t wish for more than that. Even if it means she’s not here to celebrate with him.
“I haven’t had a Father’s Day with Ellie for a long time, and that’s always tough,” he said.
“But she always rings and we’ll do some FaceTime, and she’s always very generous and sends me something … and I know she can’t be here.
“She’ll always make an effort and say thank you, and you know you’ve done something right when they don’t forget those moments, so I’ll be looking forward to her call.”
Now playing for Lyon in France, the 23-year-old was only three when a soccer jersey swam on her for the first time, put in goal to help out her big five-year-old brother’s team when they were down a player.
“Yes, she was three – we threw a little goalie jumper on her and I held her hand and she went on the field – and she did that for most of that whole first season,” he said.
“Just a little girl in pigtails.
“And at that stage you would walk around and hold your child’s hand, and that’s all she did – she just walked around, held hands, and if the ball come to her, she’d kick it.
“But a year later it was ‘no more hand, dad’ and off she went.
“You can see on the kid’s face how exciting it is to play any sport or be involved with that sort of that team environment and she’s always enjoyed her football as a junior footballer – that was always a fun time.
“And I loved that. I suppose that’s why we gave up so much to give the kids whatever we could to, to take them to soccer and little athletics and swimming, and you do all that at the drop of a hat … because you want to see them enjoy life and you want to see them do well.
“I suppose for some, it’s just second nature. She played with the boys and she was as good as the best boys, or better.
“As parents we provided the vessel to get them to where they had to be, but when we weren’t at a football park or at training, but we didn’t say ‘you’ve got to go out the paddock and do your kicks and do your dribbles’.
“Obviously, we always encouraged them to be active, but her mother and I were far from trying to make a prodigy child.”
But Ellie’s life wasn’t just about the soccer pitch. She did ballet and tap and jazz and everything in between – and going to ballet with muddy knees from soccer? Well, that’s one part of her childhood he will never forget.
“Ellie was still doing dancing. We used to get in trouble from her dance teacher when she’d come to ballet with dirty knees,” he laughed.
“I’d be in trouble because I couldn’t do her bun right.
“I’d drop her off at training and her bun wasn’t right, or she didn’t have the stockings on, or they had holes in them – I just remember that and it always resonated with me because the dance teacher said ‘why are you wasting time with this soccer, that’ll never amount to anything’. I’ll never forget that.”
He said the last two months have been an amazing experience – but it was just having his girl home that meant the world.
“I hadn’t seen Ellie for probably six months, so for her to be in Australia was just an exciting time for me, let alone the World Cup,” he said.
“But that time before the World Cup was special for me because I hadn’t seen here in such a long time, and we were getting weekends when they weren’t in camp, and I hadn’t had that for years.
“And she’s still very young and been away for a long time – so it was special having her home and so close, but yet so far away.
“I don’t think I could ever envisage what it was going to be like and what the World Cup brought to not just the girls themselves and our immediate families, but just to Australia – especially women’s football and media and perception – it’s just next level.
“They are now recognisable faces in the community, which you say that five years ago, even two years ago, and it was non existent, whereas now you go to local shops and they know who you are.
“We’d be in the car and people would pull up and they’d say, ‘Oh hi Ellie’, or you’d be in the shops and people would ask to get a photo – that never really happened before. Everything is different.
“I obviously miss her, but that’s where she needs to be.”
Technology makes it easier. They still speak and Snapchat every day, he laughed, but to hug his little girl for the first time in six months was pretty special.
“You pinch yourself,” he said.
“You see those moments on the sideline when she’s signing autographs or doing a selfie with someone, or you see someone wearing a Carpenter 21 Jersey – and I don’t know if that’s a measure of success, but it’s pretty exciting.
“She’s always good rapport with people … she hasn’t changed at all.
“You’re watching the real Ellie – that’s her, that’s the country girl I know.”
Alanna Kennedy’s dad Stephen agreed. Since she was a little girl, he and wife Stephanie would drive their ‘Lany’ to training and games, with some days starting at 6am and ending past 10pm. But to see where she’s come – well, they wouldn’t have changed a thing.
“Then when she started the W-league she had a season at Newcastle, so we had the drive from the south of Sydney in Campbelltown to Newcastle for training,” he said.
“Yes, there were kilometres, but you do it for them – it’s their passion, their dream and you want to help them achieve that wherever you can, as best you can.
“She had an older brother, Daniel, who was always playing soccer and he started at the Campbelltown Cobras, so even when she was in the pram she would be taken to soccer games.”
He said in recent years Father’s Day has meant a phone call from abroad – but when the kids were little it meant he got to pick lunch which was, when it was around, good old Sizzler.
“Or Outback Steak House, or the local pub for dinner,” he laughed.
“When she was young she would play, and then if any opportunity came to play up or play another game, she would put her hand up to try – she just took to it, and she loved it.
“She was a bit of a standout.
“I remember after one game one of the coaches from the other team come up afterwards and said to myself and my wife that one day she will go on to play for Australia – and she has.”
Emily van Egmond’s dad Gary is a former Socceroo himself and head coach at the Newcastle Jets – he knows the game. He coached her teams every year while Emily grew up too, so did she listen to her dad? Bucking the trend of so many teens during their formative years, he’s pleased to report, yes, she did.
“And she still rings and we still talk about games and how she played, and maybe what she might need to look to do, and ‘what are three things I can concentrate on’ – things like that,” he said.
“We’ve got a very special relationship from that perspective, so there’s a huge amount of respect there, which is great, and we speak and we share very special times.
“And it’s also important when we’re relaxing and chilling out and talking about everyday things as well. We can talk about anything, and that’s one of the most pleasing things for a parent – that your child will always come to you and talk to you about anything, special or not.”
What the Matildas achieved on their historic World Cup campaign – and on home soil no less – fills Gary with pride.
“Now we’ve had a bit of time to let it sink in a little bit – and you get a good feeling in regards to what a monumental achievement that they’ve actually been able to do as a collective group,” he said.
“Not only for themselves, but for the sport and for women’s sport.
“And I’m very proud to have a daughter that’s been able to represent that.
“She was always very driven – she wanted to achieve and trained very hard to get to where she’s got to, and have the career that she’s had.
“But, as parents, we ensured that she stayed grounded and we always allowed her to do all different sports or whatever she wanted to do.
“It wasn’t Emily the footballer – it was Emily, who plays football.
“She also likes playing the drums, she likes hanging out at the beach – there’s all different areas of Emily, so we were pretty conscious of that as well.”
Today, Gary is poised for his Father’s Day phone call – or maybe even two.
“Because it’ll be on the day and then she’ll tell me ‘well in America, it’s actually Father’s Day today’ – so that’s special,” he said.
“But if she’s home, we’ll either go for breakfast or lunch or dinner, or something of that nature, and celebrate Father’s Day, not obviously just with Emily but with my other two kids as well.
“So to feel that they want to celebrate Father’s Day with you, I think a huge achievement because that’s them saying thank you for everything that you’ve done for them as they were growing up.
“And that’s special.”
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