The captain of the Australian Women’s Football team and one of the finest forwards of this generation, Sam Kerr, is a name that is synonymous with the world’s best in football and recently led the Matildas to the semi-final of the Women’s World Cup 2023.
But what’s interesting is that Sam’s familial line can be traced back to Kolkata (Calcutta), and on numerous occasions, she has been heard talking about her Indian heritage!
Sam Kerr with her parents Roger and Roxanne Kerr
Sam’s grandparents Denzil and Coral were born in Calcutta and were people who invested in sports. Denzil, her grandfather, was a featherweight boxer for Bengal, while Coral or ‘Nana Kerr’ had taken up basketball. Sam’s father, Roger, was also born in the city, and they emigrated to Australia in 1969. In a video posted by the Matildas, Nana Kerr talks about the journey and the reason they had applied for Australia’s citizenship. Her sister went on to settle in the UK, but Denzil and Coral decided to emigrate to Australia owing to Denzil’s ill-health and a desire to avoid the UK’s extreme weather conditions.
On numerous occasions, Sam has proudly spoken of her Indian heritage, the struggles their family had to face and her desire to explore her ethnicity. “I've listened to my nan and my dad’s stories about moving to Australia, feeling like outsiders, having to work their way into society at a time when it wasn’t very multicultural, and it’s taught me a lot. It was hard for my dad to be accepted as a dark-skinned man in Australia. Listening to what they went through has really influenced who I am and taught me to accept people for who they are," said Kerr in a 2020 BBC interview.
Kerr hitting her iconic backflip celebration
Speaking about her fans in India and her desire to connect with her roots, she mentioned noticing a lot of people from India following her on Instagram. “It’s something that I’ve been thinking about a lot and I’d like to learn more about my heritage,” she said. “I’ve been speaking to my family about ways I could help be a role model for young Indian girls. My family’s been in Australia for 40 years now and I still don’t know a whole lot about India. I’m really proud to be Indian and love my skin colour and love my ‘Indian complexion’, as my Nana says," Kerr added.
Kerr in Chelsea colours
Kerr has been inspirational in leading the Matildas while speaking unequivocally about representation and inclusiveness. Having a record 64 international goals to her name and the crown of being the first ever Aussie to score a hat-trick at the World Cup, the forward has won the Golden Boot in three international leagues, has finished twice in the top three of Ballon d’Or Féminin standings and is the first female footballer to featured on the global cover of the FIFA game, in its latest issue.
