Three things with Matildas player Kyah Simon: ‘It’s my saving grace and the key to recovering before a game’

Matildas player Kyah Simon says her football jersey collection carries ‘a lifetime’s worth of highs, lows, memories and achievements’. Photograph: Chris Hyde/Fifa

Kyah Simon was just a teenager when she made her debut for the Matildas. Some 16 years later she is still playing for Australia’s favourite football squad and is now tentatively prepping for the Paris 2024 Olympics. If she is selected, it won’t be her first Games – Simon represented Australia at both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

The Anaiwan and Biripi woman has a long list of achievements on the field. Simon made history in 2011 when she became the first Indigenous Australian, male or female, to score at a Fifa World Cup. And she scored the winning penalty goal at the 2010 Asian Cup final, dramatically securing Australia’s victory. (Simon was part of the Tillies’ squad for the 2023 Fifa World Cup but was on the bench nursing a calf injury during that penalty shootout.)

Whatever the match, Simon relies on one nifty item to help her body be at its best: a compression garment she slides on to her legs to “Netflix, chill and recover”. Here, the football star tells us about that essential athletic tool, and shares the stories of other important belongings.

What I’d save from my house in a fire

My jersey collection. It’s 16 years’ worth of jerseys, starting from the first ever Matildas jersey I wore on debut as a 16-year-old back in 2008. It includes jerseys from my time spent playing abroad in America and over to the Netherlands and England, where I got a taste of European club football. Then there’s the jerseys I’ve worn in international friendlies for the Matildas, the Fifa World Cup campaigns, Olympic Games and everything else in between.

They are so invaluable to me, carrying a lifetime’s worth of highs, lows, memories and achievements. Together they map out the story of my career. I’d have my hands full carrying them all, but in a house fire the first thing I’d rush to do is save these bad boys.

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My most useful object

In my sporting life, it’s an icing and compression recovery modality, which I use almost daily. Whether it be for heavy legs, sore muscles or a bit of a knock I copped in training or games, it’s my saving grace and the key to recovering and getting ready for the next session.

I first discovered this little life-saver in Matildas camp, where it was used on anyone nursing an injury or soreness. I was sold and invested in one of my own. Every day when I get home from training, I fill it up with ice and water and place it on the area I want to target for about 20 minutes. I’ve been using it mostly for my knee since my reconstruction surgery to help with reducing inflammation and swelling. It’s best used laying on the couch, feet up, watching Netflix.

In my private life, it’s my journal. I write everything down in my notepad – my weekly and daily to-do lists, reminders, goals, shopping lists, general life notes and whatever else. This notepad gives me structure to my life. I’ve got a terrible memory and if it’s not documented I can guarantee you it’s immediately forgotten about. I also find it keeps me far more accountable when I’ve written something down – otherwise those life admin tasks become out of sight, out of mind. And I love the old school “putting pen to paper” element of it. In a time when we live our lives on devices and screens, it’s a great way to switch off and focus.

The item I most regret losing

When we were growing up, we had a family video camera which was always recording – everything from family holidays to sporting events and my brother videoing his magic tricks at home. Unfortunately, we lost a lot of that footage over the years, as many of the tapes were either damaged or lost. So many childhood memories, gone.