NEW MUM CAYLA STILL A FORCE ON THE COURT
IF you have seen the way Cayla George has played for Melbourne Boomers in the WNBL this season, you wouldn’t suspect a thing has changed.
The Opals star is her usual, dominant self on the hardwood.
She leads the league in total rebounds with 44 (11 per game, second in the league) and total steals (10, 2.5 per game) and is 10th overall for points (59).
Just last week, she made the WNBL’s Team of the Week, a regular place for a woman who has been a mainstay for the Opals for almost a decade.
While nothing has changed on the court, it’s away from the bright lights that her life has totally flipped, and it’s all because of a beautiful baby girl named Pearl.
George and husband Kailou have been together for 11 years, but through a practice known as Kupai Omasker, or Island Adoption, have become parents for the first time.
It’s a practice that has been around for generations, but has only recently been legally recognised.
“We do want our own kids, and we’d like to try after the Olympics, but Kailou’s sister told us after Rio Olympics in 2016 that, she’d like to gift us a baby when the time is right,” she said.
“What an act of selflessness and kindness and amazing human she is.
“The timing was right this year, I got home in March, she told us she was nine months pregnant and the rest is history.
“It’s a beautiful culture, they’ve done it for generations, but it’s sad that it’s only been recognised in the legal system just recently. For generations, Island families have been doing this anyway. Now we can do it with legal recognition now.”
George is juggling her professional basketball career with the Boomers in Melbourne with the new experience of motherhood.
And as any parent can attest, it is an ultimately rewarding experience which brings its whole new set of challenges – and as she navigates this new chapter in her life, George is thankful for the support around her.
Kailou has spent what time he can in Melbourne, but given he’s in education, won’t be able to join George and Pearl until the end of term.
George’s mum has spent considerable time in Melbourne to provide what help she can, while regular trips to training and with the Boomers’ basketball family have also been well appreciated.
And Pearl’s presence in the stands might actually help bring out the best in the 33-year-old.
“Nothing has changed except my sleep schedule,” George said.
“I’ve been trying to navigate that space. Running off a bit of adrenaline at times because you have no choice in the matter, you have to get stuff done. If she needs a feed in the night, you feed her.
“My husband is almost down, when school is done he’ll be down for a couple of weeks.
“But having the help is really amazing. Sometimes we all go to training together, mum and Pearl will sit on the sideline and watch at training. “At game time, the feeling is different as I feel more relaxed and happy to have pearl there in the stands. I’ve always had a sense of tracking friends at games, but it’s just so different knowing she’s there.”
And having that support, whether it’s from her immediate family, the basketball family, the Cairns family, or by anyone else offering help in their extended circles, George knows she will succeed as a parent.
“Honestly I never felt at any point in the lead up to the time she was born, or since, that I was ever going to fail purely because of the support I had around me,” George said.
“I never ever felt, or still to this day I don’t feel I can fail at it, and that is really reassuring because I have so much support.
“I’ve got my mum here helping so I can get a bit more sleep on game day eve, I get a little bit more sleep before games. She does a fair few wake-ups for me in the night to alleviate some of the fatigue. “But Pearl is such a good baby, I feel really lucky and blessed in so many different ways just by having her, but on top of that she’s just doing great.”
The Boomers played the Lynx in Perth on Friday night, and host Townsville Fire on Wednesday.