Matildas star Sam Kerr happy she opted to stay home and now ready to fire in A-League
SAM Kerr doesn’t always like doing a backflip on cue. Nor does she feel entirely comfortable about her earnings being discussed in public.
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SAM Kerr doesn’t always like doing a backflip on cue. Nor does she feel entirely comfortable about her earnings being discussed in public.
But the Matildas superstar also realises she’s part of a wider moment in time for women’s football. And that, all things said, life has changed for the better.
Safe to say Kerr has gone global in the past two years.
Her recent appearance at Paris Fashion Week with Nike puts her new level of fame into perspective.
If that doesn’t, the string of clubs recently competing for the 25-year-old’s services should.
But nothing says homebody like rejecting Barcelona and Chelsea for the comforts of family meals in Perth.
Not to mention the stability of another W-League season with the Glory, starting this Sunday against Brisbane Roar, in the months leading up to June’s World Cup.
“Definitely a stressful time but I’m glad it’s over and I think I’ve made the right decision, not only for me but the Matildas and Glory,” Kerr tells The Daily Telegraph.
“It’s going to give me the best opportunity going into the World Cup. That was a huge part of my decision, that was the turning point.
“And honestly, it’s just good to be home in my own bed and my own house. I’m definitely a homebody. My friends hate it but I love home.
“I’ve always been like that. I think it’s because I grew up with such a big family that we’ve just always been together.”
In the decade since making her Matildas debut at 15, Kerr has learnt a lot about the game and her place in it.
With that comes a recognition that her status as the first W-League marquee player represents “a huge step forward for women’s football”, one she hopes can bring big-money marquees to every team and help the minimum wage rise further.
There’s also a wrestling feeling the whole marquee contract thing is “pretty weird” when you’re the only player getting one.
“I’m a pretty private person, so the fact that was put out there and people were talking about how much money I was earning or what not didn’t really sit well with me,” Kerr says.
“But that’s life, and all my teammates at Glory have been really supportive so that’s been really nice.”
Perhaps her sentiment highlights the still-gaping global chasm between the wages of female and male footballers?
“That’s the big thing, right? The transfer deals for $50 million or buyout fees,” she says.
“But I guess in women’s football you don’t really like to talk about what people earn because it’s below average.”
It’s partly why there’s a hint of incredulity that a Women’s Ballon d’Or did not exist before now, despite her obvious pride at having been nominated for the inaugural gong.
“It seems so simple to just put a female one if they’re doing a male one - it’s a no-brainer,” she says.
“It was a nice surprise and a huge honour. I look up to a lot of those girls.”
On the award front, it seems something of an anomaly Kerr has twice been overlooked for FIFA’s women’s player of the year given her consistently sublime form and reams of other accolades.
For the last two NWSL seasons running she’s won the golden boot and was 2017 MVP, not to mention back-to-back W-League Julie Dolan Medals, an ESPY, and title as current Asian Women’s Footballer of the Year and Young Australian of the Year.
Still, the surreal side of life in the limelight remains.
“I think the weirdest thing for me is that my life’s changed in Perth,” Kerr says.
“I can deal with all the media and stuff because that’s part of my job. But when you want to switch off and go down to the restaurant and have a glass of wine and there’s people coming up to you, that’s when it bothers me a bit.
“I like it, but there’s just times when you want to be your normal self, and be in a bad mood one morning. Some days I wake up and I’m not in the best mood to talk to someone about ‘can I do a backflip’?
“But that’s life, and that’s the life I chose. And I love it, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
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Originally published as Matildas star Sam Kerr happy she opted to stay home and now ready to fire in A-League
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