Steph Catley is one of Australia's most successful athletes. The pressure isn’t what you imagine.

Participating in the biggest sporting event of the year, the FIFA Women’s World Cup, on home soil is a pretty massive deal in itself. But now that the PM has publicly supported the idea of a public holiday if Australia wins the football tournament? Um, thanks for the extra pressure and raising the stakes for the Matildas?

Although for our Aussie team’s Vice Captain, Steph Catley, that kind of noise isn’t her focus. For her, it’s about giving her all.

"I always give 100 per cent at training and in everything that I do on and off the field," she tells Mamamia.

That same approach goes for her leadership style too. "I'm not the leader that's going to be screaming and shouting at everyone in the change rooms [when something goes wrong]," she says. "On the field, I want people to look at me, and think, ‘Well, if she's giving 100 per cent, always, then I have to give 100 per cent'."

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With the FIFA Women’s World Cup only a month away, Steph is excited about the impact the tournament will have on young Aussies (possible public holidays, aside): "It's an opportunity for us, as a team, to inspire young girls and young boys," the Optus ambassador says.

“I had no [female athletes] to look up to growing up, to aspire to be a footballer, compared to what it’s like now. As a team, we have the opportunity to perform on the biggest stage on home soil, and I think it’s so, so exciting. 

“It could change anything – everything – for football in Australia for young girls and young boys. So to be honest, I wish the World Cup was starting tomorrow. I'm just excited to get going,” she says.

Steph grew up in Melbourne, playing in her brother’s football team as there wasn’t a girls’ team in her area. Visibility of women’s sports on TV, magazines and online was also decades away, so she looked up to male AFL players as role models.

“I loved [former St Kilda player] Lenny Hayes. He’s the exact athlete that I always wanted to be. He's humble. He's gracious, he always give 100 per cent and he’s very down to earth.

“He still is my idol. He's the reason I went with the number seven on the back of my shirt. I hope to emulate the aspects that he brought to his football career into my football career,” she says. 

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It’s why she’s so conscious of her responsibility as a public figure now, not just here in Australia, but also in the UK, where she plays for Arsenal Football Club.

“It's pretty amazing that girls are looking up to me. Like my role as an Optus ambassador allows me to be a role model for young girls in sport,” she tells Mamamia before she heads out to run a football clinic with students from the Kari Foundation as part of her ambassadorship.

“I've been involved in so many fights throughout my career, where we've been asking for equality, and we've been asking for better standards, and to see that now young girls won't have to worry about the things that we had to worry about is amazing. 

“It makes me very proud to watch young girls step into football teams, and be appreciated and paid as they should be. And have the standards and equipment that we didn't have growing up. It's very exciting. And I know it's gonna keep growing and growing, too.”

Steph is known for her positive attitude, but it’s not one she necessarily forces on her teammates if the timing isn’t right.

“Some of my teammates really like having positive feedback. So if, on the field, they've made a mistake, or they're not playing their best, you go in at halftime and put your arm around them and tell them what they did well. 

“It’s also really effective on the field. When you make a mistake, and you look at your teammate across from you, and they're saying, ‘Keep going, it's fine. Next one.’ It really just means you can focus, push on and it doesn't get you down. It doesn't affect your performance as a whole. 

“But then other people just prefer to be left alone, and then speak about it after the game. So it's about knowing your teammates really well, and figuring out the best way to help them bounce back, to help them get back into a positive mindset.”

Feature image: Supplied.

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