As the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup continues in Australia, one of the most talked-about names is Sam Kerr. The 29-year-old team captain of the Matildas not only kicks some serious goals on the pitch, but is an incredibly inspiring role model reminding the world that women of colour in sport deserve to shine.
Sam's father Roger was born in Kolkata, India to an English father and Indian mother. In an interview with Forbes back in 2021, Sam spoke about her South Asian heritage and the role she can play in helping represent Indian women in soccer.
"My Indian heritage is something I’m really proud of and I know my nanna’s really proud that I’m representing young Indian girls whenever I go out there and play," she told the publication, referring to her paternal grandmother, Coral.
She shared a similar sentiment in a chat with BBC in 2020. "I've been speaking to my family about ways I could help be a role model for young Indian girls," she said at the time.
"My family's been in Australia 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."
Sam also spoke about her grandmother's big decision to migrate to Australia from India with her family, where they felt "like outsiders" at time when Australian "wasn't very multicultural".
"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," she said.
Here's to Sam leading a new generation of women being brown and proud on the football pitch and beyond.