FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 | ‘You don't lose competitiveness being a mom, you compete more’: Cheyna Matthews

Jamaica and Chicago Red Stars footballer Cheyna Matthews. (Photo by Annesha Ghosh)

As with most major women's sporting events in recent years, the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup has thrust motherhood in sport into the spotlight, with nearly a dozen footballer-moms competing in the 32-team competition co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. Two of them are on the Jamaican team that knocked out heavyweights Brazil to reach the quarter-finals.

In an exclusive, one-on-one interaction with Moneycontrol at the Sydney Football Stadium mixed zone during the group stages, Jamaican forward Cheyna Matthews, a mother of three, spoke about balancing motherhood and World Cup duties, the physiological demands of childbirth facing female footballers, the importance of role models, and administrative loopholes that need addressing for creating pathways for moms in football. Excerpts:

Yours has been an incredibly inspirational story: competing in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in back-to-back editions a few months after childbirth. It must be an incredible feeling.

Oh, yes. It is unbelievable. I mean, all my kids are able to watch our matches back home with my family - my husband, both my parents and my in-laws. And just knowing that they're at home, watching, is such a great feeling. After our opening game (against France), I couldn’t wait to get to my phone and see what they said about my performance. My four-year-old, who was nine months old during the 2019 World Cup in France, is very honest. So, I was very excited to hear what he has to say about my game.

Cheyna Matthews interacts with the media at the Sydney Football Stadium. (Photo by Annesha Ghosh)

Could you lay down the timeline of the birth of your three kids?

My oldest was born August 24 in 2018. My second-born was born in December 2020 and my third was born on July 22 in 2022. So, they're two years apart, the first ones. And then the last one was born about a year and a half later.

You ply your trade for the Chicago Red Stars in USA’s National Women’s Soccer League. That, alongside your commitments with Jamaica… what has it been like juggling motherhood and professional football?

It's the most challenging thing I've ever done. But if there's a time to do it, it's now, so I just take it day by day. It takes a lot of planning. It takes a lot of support. But I've had that support from my family to continue my football career. And that's been, I think, pivotal in the success that I've been able to have on the pitch. So, I am just thankful that I'm able to be here because I worked so hard to get back.

I was thankful to get to start during our draw against France especially because my son had his first birthday the day before the game. So, literally 366 days ago from that day I had my last child. So, it feels just like a dream, honestly, and I'm just living in it (smiles).

Did any thoughts regarding your son or his birthday cross your mind ahead of or during that game?

Oh, absolutely. There was one header later in the game, I think, and I was hoping that it went in. I was like, “Man, that would have been so awesome for them to celebrate!” But it’s fine. Hopefully, we continue to make them proud.

Have you faced any challenges specific to the lead-up to this World Cup as a mother of three that may not have existed, or wouldn't be as severe, ahead of the 2019 World Cup when you had just one child?

(At) the first World Cup my son was there with me. So, seeing him in the stands, having him around for the games was awesome. I got to be with him a lot, but none of my children travelled to Australia because it’s very far. So, I think that's the hardest part: them being away and my not being able to embrace them after the games.

What’s been the most challenging aspect of training yourself back to full fitness post-partum in your comebacks to date?

Especially early on, when you get to that six-week point and you start to train again - those are probably the hardest months. One of the first questions you confront in your mind is, “Can you do it?” It always feels like you can't, but I think that mental toughness is a real thing.

Having gone through it once and then again and then this is my third time, I think I kind of had this formula: that I was more confident of coming back this time and knew what to do for my body, the things that worked and the things that didn't work. And I think it made it a lot smoother this time around.

A return-to-play (RTP) plan, which charts out how an athlete's physical activity after illness or injury can be gradually and safely increased, is crucial to athletes who resume their careers after childbirth, no matter the sporting discipline. What are the areas you focused on in yours?

I think recovery and nutrition. Those were the two things that I had to focus really on, especially with muscles and strains and things like that as you're coming back because your body gets more elastic after you give birth. So, just toning up everything and kind of working with the new flexibility that you get - I think those were some strengthening things that I had to focus on for sure.

Did you receive any assistance from the Jamaican Football Federation in terms of drawing up a medically supervised plan for your return or did you have to look after yourself largely?

A lot of it was individual. I mean, I spent so much time away from the team that a lot of it you take on yourself, and when you're with the national team, your goal is to just get back and compete and be on the field. So, I think that was more of my focus: to internalize or keep it in-house and when I show up to camp, just to be ready. That was kind of my idea.

In your view, is the federation doing what should be done to support its female practitioners’ return to football post-childbirth. Is there a pathway or programme they have put in place for player-mothers?

Umm… that needs some work for sure. Yeah, that needs some work for sure.

There are several players at this World Cup who are mothers, including your Jamaica team-mate Konya Plummer, who captained the side at France 2019. There’s no dearth of role models in this regard in football or in sport at large. Is there anyone in specific you look up to?

USA international and Angel City forward Sydney Leroux has been pivotal for me. When I saw that she had her first child - that was around two years before I had my first child - and I saw how she came back onto the field and how she was able to perform, I kind of just watched what she did, and I reached out to her. She was a really good resource for me after my first pregnancy.

What sort of conversations did you have with her?

At first it was really just watching her do her thing because I didn't have an opportunity to talk to her. So, just being in the league (National Women’s Soccer League) after games, exchanging numbers, and seeing what she was able to do was great. There's motivation in seeing a mom come back and score a goal. Things like that are massively inspiring. So, I think, it was more like (seeing her as) a role model and seeing what she did and then having her reach out and give some advice at times.

Have you had a chance to catch up with any of your fellow players-moms at this World Cup yet?

I was trying to find the one (Amel Majiri) on the French team after the opening game. I saw her son made the trip, so I thought that was awesome to see that. I wasn't able to connect with her after the game, but I wanted to wish her luck because we know how hard it is (smiles); we're the only ones that really know what that's like. So, I just wanted to show my respect to her.

I know Australia have Katrina (Gorry). She and I traded jerseys in February when we were in Australia for a friendly match. We talked a little bit after that game. It's nice to see her playing as well as she is at this World Cup.

Did the channel 7 commentator just say “certainly motherhood hasn’t blunted her competitive instincts” about Gorry WTF?!

— Saman Shad (@muminprogress) July 20, 2023

Gorry’s motherhood did come into focus, albeit for unexpected reasons, during Australia’s opener against Ireland at Stadium Australia on July 20, when Channel Seven commentator David Basheer said, 'Certainly motherhood has not blunted her competitive instincts; that’s for sure,' as the Matildas midfielder won a tackle. What would your response be to a comment like that?

You don't lose competitiveness being a mom. In fact, I think you compete more. You want to be a great mom. You want to make sure your kid has everything. We're footballers because we're competitive. You can't play football and not be competitive. So, I don't agree with that. I think being a mom doesn't make you less competitive. No way.

The World Cup is the biggest platform a footballer can aspire to reach. If you could share a message for footballers who want to become mothers and continue chasing their athletic dreams, what would it be?

My message would be consistency is key in coming back and just knowing that everyone's road is different. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. And if you're consistent in your work rate, you can come back.

You’ve often credited your husband, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jordan Matthews, for being a superlative pillar of support. How big of a role has your family played in ensuring you continue to scale greater heights on the professional front?

He is actually looking after the kids. His parents and my parents kind of pitch in. They're all together right now in Nashville, Tennessee. So, that's where they are now and my husband will leave for an NFL camp soon in Carolina, so it's going to get busy, but the kids will be with their grandparents till I get back.

You were born in Atlanta, USA, and represented the country at under–23 level in 2015. Growing up, you had harboured hopes of representing the USA at the senior level, too. But here you are, part of Jamaica’s second World Cup campaign, blazing a trail. How do you look back on the journey you’ve had so far as a footballer?

I actually got reached out to play for Jamaica when I was pregnant with my first child. They were saying that they were going in and trying to qualify for the first World Cup, in 2019, and I was pregnant at the time. So, I said, “Hey, I wouldn't be able to be a part of the qualifiers. But if you qualify, I'd be more than happy to play for Jamaica.”

At that point, I wasn't really in with the US team, so an opportunity to play on the world stage with this group of players is, I mean... I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Jamaica have shown we are a force to be reckoned with. We just hope and want to continue to build on what we’ve done so far.

Also read: Spain vs England FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 final: 6 things to know about the final & finalists