If you’re a cricket fan, you may have seen her already, pacing the boundary ropes on the field, keeping a close eye on her charges out there in the middle.
Tall with blonde hair, sapphire blue eyes and brains to boot, Kate Stalker is the physiotherapist of the New Zealand cricket team currently touring Sri Lanka.
It all happened fast, she says. Just days after completing her Masters degree in Australia, the young physiotherapist applied for the post in November last year. It was to be a six month contract. But having seen her dedication and professionalism she has been asked to stay on till the 2011 World Cup.
The only female physiotherapist on tour in international cricket, she is also the only female touring with the Kiwis. Describing the experience for one who grew up as an only child, she says, “They’re a very good team and they’re a very nice group of boys. They look after me so it’s like having 20 brothers, although they tease me all the time.”
“Yeah it gets a little lonely at times. There are times when I’d like to sit down and have a conversation with a girl! But none of their partners are on tour and we are not really allowed to leave the hotel for our own safety. So it’s a bit tough sometimes not having a girl to talk to because guys can talk a lot of rubbish at times. And there’s only so much of that you can handle, it can get tiring and you just want to talk about other things like hair and make up! But of course most of the time they’re pretty good to me.”
Learning to cope with the long tours far from home can be quite a challenge, as she is fast finding out. “I also call home and talk to friends regularly on Skype which helps. I’ve found that I’ve started reading girly magazine which I never used to do! I think it’s because I’m just craving female input but to be fair most of the time it doesn’t bother me. It’s really quite fun. It’s like living everyday with your friends and we laugh a lot,” she says.
While the Kiwi team has become her new found family and she fits in well with them, Kate is in fact, South African. “I thought it was going to be strange during the Twenty-Twenty World Cup in England when we were to play against South Africa since that was where I grew up. But I found that it was easy to support New Zealand because it was my friends who were out there playing. It did feel a bit nasty to be going against South Africa but I really wanted these boys (New Zealand) to win. We have all worked really hard and they are a good team, I really wanted them to do well. But if South Africa is playing another country, I’d support South Africa, because that’s where I’m from,” she says emphatically.
Coming from South Africa which is a country that’s intensely into cricket, it’s no surprise her support for South African cricket cannot be easily dislodged. An ardent fan of cricket, during summer she would regularly go to watch matches with her friends.
Her responsibilities as the team’s physiotherapist, of course, come first now.
A typical day for Kate would be waking up at dawn, going to the gym and attending meetings before examining the players for injuries- a tough and rigorous routine that she follows strictly even during weekends. She then checks their diet and makes sure they are well hydrated. “We weigh everyone to see whether they are hydrated or not, help them during training if they’re batting. See if they are hydrated if they are fielding. During the game we walk around the boundary and see if the players need any water.”
“In places like Sri Lanka you really have to keep them hydrated so at the end of the day we weigh them again to make sure they haven’t lost too much fluid. I coordinate with the massage therapist as well, and these sessions can go on for one to three hours. On training days you’ve got a bit more time. So essentially we keep the team well and hopefully prolong their careers and make them the best cricket team they can be.”
“I work closely with our fitness trainer and between the two of us we try to make the team as strong as possible. We constantly keep check on their injuries and we try to prevent injuries as well. And if someone is injured we try to rehabilitate them so they can stay on tour and keep playing. There are times when they have to go home for rehab but I still have to keep in touch with those players as well and find out how they are doing. In winter it’s a bit of a relief because they won’t be playing but in summer I make sure I know where they are, who’s playing and who isn’t, and if they aren’t playing I need to know why they aren’t,” she explains.
Any other challenges in Sri Lanka? “I haven’t had any blood injuries here. When I was in county cricket someone shattered his jaw but we’ve just had some cuts and bruises and a few pulled muscles. Luckily we haven’t had any serious injuries,” adds Kate.
Very much a key member of the team, at the moment Kate is preparing the team for the Twenty-Twenty matches.
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