If you thought working 9-5 was a grind, spare a thought for the elite AFLW athletes juggling careers both on and off the field.
Irish born Tanya Kennedy is quickly becoming one of the Sydney Swans top defenders.
You’ll be hard pressed to find a player more determined than the 30-year-old around the club, who is grabbing her first season in the red and white with both hands.
“I didn’t know what to expect, I didn’t even know if I was going to play this season, it’s all happened so fast but I’m loving every minute of it,” said Kennedy.
Away from the field, she’s trading the footy boots for the fluoro’s, as she puts in the hours as a traffic controller on the streets of Sydney.
“It takes up a lot of time. It’s pretty tough, the hours are massive, you’re on your feet all day. It’s not an ideal job for an athlete. It’s tough work.”
“In an ideal world we would like to not work, so we can focus fully on football.”
That ideal world is still a few years away as the AFLPA targets players to be full-time athletes by 2026. Until then, it’s all work and no play for Kennedy who admits the strain of juggling both can take its toll.
“You could be getting up at 5.30am in the morning and working until 6.30pm that night. You could be going anywhere from North Sydney to Meadowbank.
“When I have footy training I have to leave work early, then I’m rushing into the club, throwing on the boots and straight out to training, trying to switch on to footy and get the head in the game.
“It makes us more tired to be honest.”
“I’d like for work not to affect us, but of course it does. Whatever job I have it’s still taking energy and then I don’t have as much energy to put into what I love, the game and training.
“I want to be 100% all the time to train at my best but when I’m up working or working the night shift, then I just don’t have it.”
The Sydney Swans will play their next home game at Henson Park THIS SUNDAY.
Join us as we celebrate the Irish community and cheer on the team to their next victory.
