Brisbane 2032 in sight<\/p>\n
For Mary Fowler, the idea of competing at a home Olympics is a dream \u2013 one that\u2019s likely to come true.<\/p>\n
The CommBank Matildas has already represented Australia at two Olympic Games but said the prospect of Brisbane 2032 carries a different kind of excitement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWearing the jersey is super special any time you get to wear it,\u201d Fowler said. \u201cBut in particular, when I wear it in Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the Olympics being at home in 2032, if I had the chance to go to that, I think it would just be super special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fowler said the chance to experience three major international tournaments at home across her career would be rare.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly it’s unreal,\u201d she said. \u201cI think most players that I know never get the opportunity to have a tournament at home, and we’ve been really blessed to have the World Cup and the Asia Cup at home and now the Olympics, Brisbane.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is unheard of. To have that all in the span of my career, it just feels like the most perfect timing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
From watching the Games to competing in them<\/p>\n
Fowler said the Olympics had been part of her life long before she became an Olympian.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowing up, I always watched the Olympics with my family,\u201d she said. \u201cWe used to go to the beach and have our own mini-Olympics.\u201d<\/p>\n
With four siblings, Fowler said almost anything could become a competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were always really competitive and there was enough of us to play a lot of different games. Getting to then participate in the Olympics, it was just super special getting to look back at those moments as a kid and dreaming of it and then making that dream a reality.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt still feels crazy to me sometimes that that’s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Remembering why she plays<\/p>\n
Fowler said one of her strongest Olympic memories remains her first Olympic goal, scored against Great Britain in a quarterfinal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI scored my first Olympic goal in that game, and it was also just such a big game for us as a team,\u201d she said. \u201cI felt so much joy in that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said that memory still helps reconnect her with the reason she plays.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s now just become a really cherished memory where I can look back on and then feel that joy and almost remember why I’m playing as well,\u201d Fowler said. \u201cBecause it’s moments like that are the most rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paris a lesson in pressure<\/p>\n
Brisbane 2032 is still six years away, but Fowler said her most recent Olympic experience in Paris taught her important lessons about expectation, pressure and resilience.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt my second Olympics in Paris, I think that one taught me quite a lot about expectation and managing pressure,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The CommBank Matildas entered the tournament after a strong World Cup campaign but were knocked out in the group stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThings didn’t work out for us the way we had hoped, and it was quite disappointing on a personal level,\u201d Fowler said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt like we let everyone down, and I’d never really experienced that before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fowler said the tournament forced her to reflect on how to perform regardless of outside attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to do a lot of reflecting on how I can make sure that I am consistently performing regardless of who’s watching or what people are saying.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince then, I feel like I have thrived on the pitch because I am actually doing those things like journaling and making sure I actually make time for my social life,\u201d Fowler said. \u201cA lot of the stuff that makes me perform is not football related, and it\u2019s just making sure that I don\u2019t make football my whole life so that I can really enjoy it and be engaged in it when I am on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said resilience was one of the biggest lessons from Paris.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it’s a weird thing to have to speak to a camera afterwards and be like, yeah, I was bad. It can be quite embarrassing when you make a mistake, but I think when the whole country is watching you, it magnifies that.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter that tournament, getting to do some media and actually just be like, I wasn’t good enough, it actually really helped me to feel like, you know, that’s okay as long as you keep trying,\u201d she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A message for the next generation<\/p>\n
By Brisbane 2032, some of the children who grew up watching Fowler and the CommBank Matildas could be old enough to compete themselves.<\/p>\n
Fowler said her message to them was simple.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust keep going,\u201d she said. \u201cIt’d be amazing to see more girls coming through and just to hear their story.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think even today, I still have people come up and tell me how they started playing football because of the World Cup. And it’s just beautiful to see how us just playing and giving people the opportunity to feel inspired.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking ahead to 2032, Fowler said she is taking things year by year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI take it day by day, year by year,\u201d she said. \u201cHopefully I\u2019ll still be at my A game, doing well, because I think it would be an amazing opportunity to be part of something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brisbane 2032 in sight For Mary Fowler, the idea of competing at a home Olympics is a dream…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64824,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[99,6868,152,3229],"class_list":["post-64823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brisbane","tag-brisbane","tag-community","tag-news","tag-olympics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}