WA soccer star and Matildas captain Sam Kerr opens up on impact of motherhood after welcoming son Jagger

WA soccer superstar Sam Kerr has opened up on the impact motherhood has made on her life, saying welcoming son Jagger into the world had helped her find greater balance.

The Matildas captain took to Instagram in May to announce the arrival of her first child with fiancé Kristie Mewis.

Jagger’s birth coincided with Kerr spending a lengthy period on the sidelines due to a knee injury, which she suffered while at a pre-season training camp with club side Chelsea in January last year.

After spending nearly two years out of the game, Kerr has returned to the pitch in recent months, making her club comeback in September before returning to the international stage, featuring for the Matildas in a friendly against Wales last month.

Kerr said having a child had been “so much fun, more fun than people prepare you for.”

“I don’t think it’s changed my perspective on football. I still love the game and I’m all in when I’m there. But it’s changed my home life,” Kerr told CBA Newsroom.

“When I come home, I’m not watching clips of myself anymore. I have better separation now, and it’s been healthy. I don’t stew over games. I come home, take care of him, and it gives me a new perspective.”

Jagger is experiencing a cosmopolitan upbringing, with Australian Kerr and American Mewis raising him in London, where Kerr has been based since moving to Chelsea in 2020.

When jokingly pressed on what side Jagger could be expected to choose to represent on the international stage should he pursue a soccer career of his own, Kerr remained unsure.

“Probably Australia, he’s got an Aussie passport. But I’ll let him decide,” she said.

“We were laughing about what accent he’ll have - probably a hybrid of English, American and Aussie.”