Tameka Yallop: I'm at a point in my career where it's definitely no longer about me

CommBank Matildas’ veteran, wife and mum, Tameka Yallop, has been part of the national team set up since 2007, experiencing the dizzying heights and enervating lows of a career spanning almost two decades.

Through the trailblazing campaigns for gender equity and more recently, the rise of the ‘Tillies’ fans know and love today, she’s been part of it all.

“When I first started playing for the Matildas at 16, there was quite a big barrier. There were no pathways or advice on how to get better or where to go next,” the midfielder explained.

“From the outside, people thought you had made it already. You were wearing the green and gold jersey; you were at your peak. What they didn't know was that you weren't making a living from it.

“In Australia, it was hard to keep football in your future. It meant we had to try and go somewhere where football was a career and that was overseas,” she continued.

“I think that was a real turning point where we lost a lot of players. There were a lot of girls who retired or moved away from football into careers that had visible pathways that would support them to live out of home and grow up to be an adult.”

Like many of her Matildas teammates, Yallop made the brave decision as a teenager to move away from her family to pursue a career in the game she loved.

“When I was 18 years old, I decided I wanted to go overseas. It was the scariest decision of my life,” she shared.

“I was confident in my football, but off the field, I wasn’t. The challenges of managing finances to make sure I could get food and pay rent was a massive challenge. A lot of people couldn’t get past it or were too scared to try.

Acutely aware of the sacrifices her family made to get her to where she is today, the Gold Coast-local takes great pleasure in being able to return the favour.

“At the time, I didn’t realise it, but looking back on my career, honestly, my parents sacrificed so much for me, and I wouldn't have been given the opportunities that I was given, without them,” she said.

“I remember my second World Cup, my parents were like, ‘Well, good luck, go and have fun,’ and I said, ‘No, you guys are coming. You've sacrificed so much for me, you’ve sold raffle tickets at the local pub, you’ve done all these things, I'm paying for you to come over.’

“They wouldn’t accept, but I said to them, now I've got some pocket change from what I've been doing the last 10 years and I want you to be there,” she continued.

“That was a special moment for me, because it was the first time my dad realised that all his efforts and the time that he’d put into supporting me was paying off. It wasn’t just about representing my country; it was about me being able to support myself enough to also give something back to them.”

Now with her own young family to support, Yallop spoke about how her priorities have expanded.

“They've changed me in such an unexpected way,” she said of wife Kirsty and daughter Harley.

“I guess, in anyone's career path, there's always a certain amount of selfishness, where you do have to focus on yourself. Especially when you are an athlete, I think there’s an even heavier focus on that.

“Before I met Kirsty, my career had always been about how far I could get as a footballer and how much the Matildas can achieve as a team. We shared the same experiences growing up, playing football and moving overseas with football so we understood each other.

“We got married in 2019 and then our daughter came along the following year and our motivations and everything just changed both on and off the field,” she continued.

“When you have your own child, whether it's a little boy or a little girl looking up to you, I think your whole perspective on why you're doing something changes.

“You think about the future, not just own but how you want their future to look - making sure that they have more opportunities than you did growing up. So, for me, I think I'm at a point in my career where it's definitely no longer about me.

“It's always been about the team, but now it's gone way beyond that.”

For the majority of her career, Yallop believed motherhood was a dream that would have to be put on hold until she retired, but she became the first Matilda of the current squad to become a mum, while still representing her country.

“For a long time, being a mother was never really talked about. Mainly because there was just the assumption that it wasn't possible to be an athlete and a mother,” she said.

“Growing up, if we were talking about having kids, we were talking about retirement and when you thought of the word ‘retired’, you thought ‘old’,” she laughed.

“It definitely wasn't until later in my career that the opportunities for women in football, especially within Australia, started changing and those conversations started happening.

“There was a realisation that we had enough support to possibly make it happen.”

With elite sporting careers always having an expiration date, Yallop spoke about how important it is to have purpose outside of what she does on the pitch, along with how much it has enriched her life being able to have her family with her in camp.

“For any parent, it's always hard to be away from your family, especially when you have a young child,” she said.

The first time Yallop spent time away from her new family was during COVID for the Tokyo 2020 (rescheduled to 2021) Olympic Games. Between a major tournament and quarantine laws coming back home, she spent eight months away.

“I left the house one morning thinking, I'm going to the Olympics, I'll see you soon. I wasn't prepared to not be able to come home, which was especially difficult,” she shared.

“Knowing how fast they grow, especially in those first one to two years and the fact that it kept dragging out, not being able to get back, not being able to get a quarantine spot, I missed Harley’s first birthday. I’d literally missed half of her life.

“By the time I did get home and finally got to hold her in my arms, it was a feeling I’d never experienced before and I guess that's what every mother goes through, when you do have that separation.

“Now, it just makes me cherish it so much more when Harley gets to come into camp.

“She absolutely loves this environment and I do too, which is why I'm always so happy to come into camp. It definitely gives me a real purpose in life as well.”

In terms of what she is most proud of when it comes to her career, like many of her Matildas teammates, it’s the legacy that they will leave behind.

“Looking back makes me quite proud to say that I was one of those players that bridged the gap and also brought the standard of football up in Australia,” she said.

“Now women don't necessarily have to go overseas or give it up. That was a hurdle and a challenge that could’ve been the end of my career. It was a fork in the road and I'm glad I chose the harder path.

“But I think what gives me the greatest satisfaction and joy, is looking back over my career, seeing where the game is now and being excited for what the future holds. Especially when I think about Harley and the next generation coming through,” she continued.

“It’s nice to know they’ve got a good platform and women's sport, especially women's football, is no longer looked at as something that girls can do, but why bother?

“Now, it's like, hell yeah! You can make it at this level, you can put on that Matildas jersey and that’s absolutely so special.”