The women paving the way

Maryanne Latu: There's not a day that I go without facing challenges or struggles. I'll go to places and like I'll just get stared up and down constantly and I'm like.
Isabella Nichols: There's definitely a lot of aspects of surfing and sport that has made me more resilient as a human. Sport has taught me how to adapt, how to not be so set in my ways.

Paige Greco: From when I was younger I learned goal setting. Where you want to get to and how to get to it, big or small. Like I wanted to go to the Paralympics and I wanted to win a gold medal. It's taught me how to be disciplined and at times that has got me down because obviously my body moves a little bit differently to someone that doesn't have cerebral palsy. But from the experiences I've gone through, it's been a massive confidence boost for myself to be like, ‘wow this is what I've achieved with a disability’.

Natalya Diehm: There's been many times I was unsure if I was going to continue or not. When it got announced into the Tokyo Olympics I was going through my fourth knee recovery and at that time I was definitely like, ‘the risk isn't worth the reward. I'm out of work again, mum and dad are funding me this - I just can't do it’. At the other day I had to sit down and go: ‘You know what? Like, this is what I've been working towards’. I didn't know it at the time but this is it and this is my chance. You have to love what you do or what's the point!

Haylie Powell: It's definitely tough. Your hitting concrete 24/7 and you’re just falling. You're like okay you gotta get back up. So it teaches you perseverance. I've definitely got more mature and independent through skateboarding, that's for sure. At one stage I just wanted my parents just dropped me off at a skate park and they're like, ‘no we're going to wait, you're still a bit young’. Now they just drop me off. I've got my learners now. But as soon as I get my Ps, I'm just skate park. Stay there. Come back late at night.

Maryanne: Latu: I just never thought that I could do things on my own. Becoming more independent by that is one of them is driving. I never thought I would drive my life. I thought I would just rely on my parents to get me here and there.

Isabella Nichols: I've learned lessons of how to be motivated, dedicated, committed to something and I've just learned so many life lessons that I don't know if anything else could have taught me.

Haylie Powell: I think I’ve made more friends through skateboarding than school. You can have so many good times, you meet so many new people, you learn so many new things like perseverance. It's not just get back up, try again. Skateboarding is like a big family. You're all friends, like, there's no rivalry.

Isabella Nichols: Having that camaraderie in the ocean has really been a pivotal point for me. It's not because we want to become a pro or whatnot. We do it because we love what we do, we want to connect with people.

Paige Greco: I've made some really long friends that I'm really grateful to say that I have because we're all doing different things now. One of my friends has gone into a different sport. It's so great that we used to compete together in a different sport and now we're doing different things. So studying, still competing. I learned a lot from them and I think it's given me determination to maybe put some of those aspects that I've learned from them into my career.

Maryanne Latu: I was always quiet, so shy. As the years go by, I started to come out of my shell more, get comfortable into the team. At home because my parents are constantly working, I'm like the second mum at home. So I would do the dishes, wash everyone's clothes, fold it, tell my brothers to take it to their room. I didn't realise that I literally carried that with me and take it to basketball. Playing as a team is like big becoming a family. So ever since then, they're like oh you know what, your nickname Mama Mary. Such a heartwarming, touching thing to me.

Natalya Diehm: I have a lot of best friends that I've made through the sport but I do have a really really close one. She's Hannah Roberts. She's the current world champion. We have a great friendship, lots of banter. We love food so we'll go eat a lot. We went and played Top Golf, we'll swim. Anything that's around we're gonna do it. We're just like little kids together.

Isabella Nichols: Those girls that I started surfing with have guaranteed, been the reason why I continued doing what I do. If I didn't have them, I don't know where I would be.

Maryanne Latu: Knowing that you know there’s someone there to help and support you, that you're not on your own and you're not doing it by yourself is really important.

Paige Greco: I support other women in cycling and sport. I really love when we do compete overseas or if it's in Australia. We're all cheering each other on and we're all making sure we're all fired up. You know we're all athletes and we all want to compete and do our best. But women, I think we just support each other and just making sure we're okay off the bike as well.

Isabella Nichols: To be a part of that whole push for women surfing, it's been incredible. Like, I always try and support the young girls wherever I can and encourage them, but I think it's just a cultural shift, you know, like all the men now are a lot more accepting of female surfers. Now they're sharing waves and encouraging the younger girls to get into it, which has really been a big shift.

Haylie Powell: I did a contest earlier this year and there's, like, pro skaters that I've looked up to since I was like six, seven years old and they're giving me high fives and I’m like ‘no way this is happening’. Like I'm frothing. It was sick.

Natalya Diehm: I try to support the young women by giving lots of encouragement and allowing them to dream. I'm a massive dreamer and I encourage it and I will play along with it so that they know, ‘man, like, this can't come true’. Inspiration is everything. And never doubting what they say, it's like if you want it, absolutely you can have it. Let's work hard.

Haylie Powell: I've definitely donated a few some of my prizes and some money, like Isabella Nichols, like I've dominated some money to her to get to the WSL Junior Tour and now she's in the WSL tour which is insane to see.

Isabella Nichols: Haylie is an incredible human. I actually met her through Coolum Board-riders. She would have been six years old. I was trying to raise money to get myself over to Ecuador, and that was at the time where I didn't have sponsorship. And this little girl walks up and she has a little piggy bank and pulls out $200 and puts it in the bucket and goes ‘good luck over there, I'm rooting for you’. To have that kind of support from such a young female, it's just special. It represented the support that I had from the community, from the younger athletes and it was such a mature thing for her to do at that age.

Haylie Powell: I think I’ve made more friends through Skateboarding than school. You can have so many good times. You meet so many new people. You learn so many new things like perseverance. It's not just get back up try again. Skateboarding is like a big family, you're all friends like there's no rivalry.

Isabella Nichols: Having that camaraderie in the ocean has really been a pivotal point for me. It's not because we want to become a pro or whatnot. We do it because we love what we do, we want to connect with people.

Paige Greco: I've made some really long friends that I'm really grateful to say that I have because we're all doing different things now. One of my friends has gone into a different sport. It's so great that we used to compete together in a different sport and now we're doing different things. We’re studying, still competing. I learned a lot from them and I think it's given me determination to maybe put some of those aspects that I've learned from them into my career.

Maryanne Latu: I was always quiet, so shy. As the years go by I started to come out of my shell more, get comfortable into the team. At home because my parents are constantly working, I'm like the second mum at home. So I would do the dishes, wash everyone's clothes, fold it, tell my brothers to take it to their room. I didn't realise that I literally carried that with me and take it to basketball. Playing as a team is like big becoming a family. So ever since then, they're like oh you know what, your nickname Mama Mary. Such a heartwarming, touching thing to me.

Natalya Diehm: I have a lot of best friends that I've made through the sport but I do have a really really close one, she's Hannah Roberts, she's the current world champion. We have a great friendship, lots of banter. We love food so we'll go eat a lot. We went and played Top Golf, we'll swim, anything that's around we're gonna do it. We're just like little kids together.

Isabella Nichols: Those girls that I started surfing with have guaranteed, been the reason why I continued doing what I do. If I didn't have them, I don't know where I would be.
 

Isabella Nichols: The ocean for me is just my happy place. And I think that's what's drawn me to the ocean and surfing. Since studying engineering, I want to use that to build and design wave pools. But once I finish competitive surfing, I'd love to get into some sort of mentoring role where I can encourage not just women, but men as well, to continue surfing and do it because they love it.

Paige Greco: So when I won my gold medal at Tokyo, that was such a surreal moment. That was my first medal at the Paralympics, and it was the first event of the whole games and the first gold medal for the Australian team. When I won, I remember just finishing and I was looking up at the scoreboard and I saw that it was a PB and a world record. The tears came and I was just so happy and just very overwhelmed. I think my younger self would be proud of where I am now. I definitely am. I think in the future I'd still love to start studying while I'm still cycling. It's always really important to do something outside of cycling and off the bike.

Natalya Diehm: So my goal has always been to go to Paris, at least try and qualify whether I make it or I don't. At least I know that I tried and I gave it my best. I see myself still being involved in the sport. I don't know what it's going to be. If I'm still coaching. I would love to. Or the commentating, I had a great time doing that on the weekend. It was the first time ever. Like, just literally my natural expressions and reactions to what I see is what I put on the mic and I had a lot of fun. I think there's a few endless opportunities for me at the moment since I've been in the sport for so long.

Haylie Powell: It doesn't matter who you are, doesn't matter what age, how small you are. Like, you can get into it. Everyone is super friendly, just prepare to hit the ground. But once you do it, you're like, ‘okay, I'm fine.’ Learn to get back up and keep trying.

Maryanne Latu: Ever since I started playing basketball, I promised my parents that one day I will make it to the Paralympics to represent them, my culture and for the country I play for. So my dream and goal is to play for 2024 in Paris, for the Paralympics. To reach that will be the most unbelievable blessing to my life, especially to my parents.

Maryanne Latu: There's not a day that I go without facing challenges or struggles. I'll go to places and like I'll just get stared up and down constantly and I'm like.

Isabella Nichols: There's definitely a lot of aspects of surfing and sport that has made me more resilient as a human. Sport has taught me how to adapt, how to not be so set in my ways.

Paige Greco: From when I was younger I learned goal setting - where you want to get to and how to get to it, big or small. Like I wanted to go to the Paralympics and I wanted to win a gold medal. It's taught me how to be disciplined and at times that has got me down because obviously my body moves a little bit differently to someone that doesn't have cerebral palsy. But from the experiences I've gone through, it's been a massive confidence boost for myself to be like wow this is what I've achieved with a disability.

Natalya Diehm: There's been many times I was unsure if I was going to continue or not. When it got announced into the Tokyo Olympics I was going through my fourth knee recovery and at that time I was definitely like, the risk isn't worth the reward. I'm out of work again, mum and dad are funding me, this I just can't do it. At the other day I had to sit down and go, you know what, like this is what I've been working towards. I didn't know it at the time but this is it and this is my chance. You have to love what you do or what's the point!

Haylie Powell: It's definitely tough. Your hitting concrete 24/7 and you’re just falling. You're like okay you gotta get back up. So it teaches you perseverance. I've definitely got more mature and independent through skateboarding, that's for sure. At one stage I just wanted my parents just dropped me off at a skate park and they're like, no we're gonna wait, you're still a bit young. Now they just drop me off. I've got my learners now but as soon as I get my Ps, I'm just skate park, stay there, come back late at night.

Maryanne: Latu: I just never thought that I could do things on my own. Becoming more independent by that is one of them is driving. I never thought I would drive my life. I thought I would just rely on my parents to get me here and there.

Isabella Nichols: I've learned lessons of how to be motivated, dedicated, committed to something and I've just learned so many life lessons that I don't know if anything else could have taught me.