This week I got to shoot the breeze with West Indies Women’s Cricket Captain – Stafanie Taylor.
Born 11th June 1991 in Spanish Town, Jamaica Stafanie was only 17 years old when she made her debut for the West Indies. Her cricketing career has been incredible. It’s amazing how cool, calm and collected Taylor is.
Stafanie used to enjoy playing football in primary school and was introduced to cricket when she was around 8 years old and was clearly a natural talent.
Taylors accolades are impressive; in 2011 she became the first West Indies recipient of the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year. In 2016 she became a World Cup Winner and was also awarded Player of the Tournament.
Here is a little snippet of how Stafanie felt winning the World Cup and also a little insight into what her team mates say about her.
| ICC Women’s World Twenty20 final, Kolkata |
|---|
| Australia 148-5 (20 overs): Villani 52, Lanning 52, Dottin 2-33 |
| West Indies 149-2 (19.3 overs): Matthews 66, Taylor 59 |
| West Indies won by eight wickets |
One of Taylor’s team mates she speaks very highly of is her batting parter Hayley Matthews so I thought I would show you a little action shot of the duo doing what they do.
When the West Indies Women won the World Cup the men’s team were also a force to be reckoned with. Players like Chris Gayle, Daren Sammy, Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell all kicking ass on the field.
Off the field and in the music studio Bravo released a song called “Champion”. It became and anthem along with it’s simple dance for everyone to join in with. The song is still played across cricket as it’s a crowd pleaser. If you haven’t heard it take a listen with the Spotify link here:
As we continued the conversation on music I asked Taylor what tracks help her train and keep her motivated. A couple of songs that she’s currently enjoying are Chris Brown – “Tempo” and Ciara – “Level Up”.
Do either of these tracks motivate you? Send me your music playlists to check out.
Next we talked about female role models. I mentioned how when I was growing up playing football it was a time where there was a real lack of sports women who inspired me apart from Mia Hamm (the USA soccer player). Take a look at this next clip to see who else Stafanie rates as a positive influence.
I asked Stafanie if she had started to think about life after cricket, here’s what she said.
I always find it interesting talking to other people and getting their take on the world and their life. My career in sport is a bit of a bubble. I feel a certain amount of sympathy and empathy for professional athletes I have worked with who dedicate their lives to their sport. Then for some when they have to leave the sport for whatever reason (age, injury, circumstances) they have little to no support or preparation on what to do next. It’s great to hear Stafanie is already thinking about the future.
As is becoming a bit of a regular thing with my guests I like to ask which “celebrities” they’d invite if they had the opportunity to have a fantasy dinner party. I love hearing people’s responses, I know myself the answer can change daily depending on my mood. Check out who Stafanie would invite but first we talked about superstitions and special talents.
Finally we did a little quick fire “this or that” questions. Love how it was a tough choice between Popcaan or Sean Paul.
It was so great to chat to Stafanie. For someone so young she has already achieved so much and she remains humble in her success and also how selfless and giving she is. When I asked her what superpower she would like she said invisibility so she could go around fixing things, helping people and no one would know it was her. Such a thoughtful person and a team player despite her hard exterior, a big thumbs up to that.
I feel privileged to have had the pleasure to work with Stafanie and to have made a friend for life. Here is one of our team photographs which I will talk more about in my personal blog soon.
I hope you have enjoyed this latest edition of AC Shoots The Breeze. Please continue to get involved and share. It really is uplifting to hear from you.
Choose Love
AC
AC Shoots The Breeze 