14 August 2023 , 10:36
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Chelsea star Sam Kerr has admitted she pretended to be a boy for years in order to play football as a youth in her native Australia.
The prolific striker has revealed she previously resorted to hiding her gender just to get a game at junior level. As a child, Kerr cut her hair short and masqueraded as a boy for five to six years just to be able to play the beautiful game in East Fremantle, just south of Perth.
Kerr’s new book My Journey to the World Cup is a memoir outlining her painful journey. It reads: “I knew I'd be the only girl on the team but that didn't worry me at all. I didn't want them to treat me any differently just because I was a girl.
“I remember one of the boys crying when he found out.”
The 29-year-old was forced to quit playing for her youth team in Australia due to being regularly left sporting black eyes from playing in rough matches. Her family stepped in when she continued to come home with new injuries.
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“As good as I was out on the field, and as much as I loved playing the game, the physical differences between the guys and me eventually became too pronounced and the play was too rough.
“One day, I came home from a game with yet another black eye and bloody lip, and that's when my dad and brother both said, 'Nup, this isn't happening any more'.
“I was getting battered around so much out on the field that it was getting to be a big problem. Dad and my coach both sat me down then and said it was getting far too dangerous for me to continue to play.
“They said they were sorry, but that I wasn't allowed to play football any more. I understood the reasons why, but I was heartbroken. Back then, there were no girls' teams in my area for me to join, and to know that I'd never play a sport that I loved so much ever again was devastating.'
Now Kerr is paid a suspected six-figure salary to lead the line at Chelsea in the Women’s Super League and is an icon for Women’s football worldwide as one of the most prolific strikers on the globe. Australia's captain is set to face England’s Lionesses once more in the World Cup semi-finals on Wednesday, going head-to-head with Chelsea team-mate Millie Bright.