Being a mom is an adventure
NGN speaks to Stand-up paddler and full time mom, Shelley Bradfield, about her commitments in, and out of the water.
BEING a mom carries its own unique challenges, but couple that with a full time job as well as being a Protea and the feat is all the more impressive. Of course uMhlanga resident, Shelly Bradfield wouldn’t call it a cinch, but it’s a challenge.
“It takes a lot of planning and hard work,” she smiles. As national women’s day approaches, Northglen News is using the month of August to honour and appreciate the remarkable contribution of women of the North, be it through charity, leadership or out on the sports field.
Bradfield, a former Danville Park Girls’ High School pupil and mother of two was recently crowned winner of the KwaZulu-Natal winter stand-up paddle winter series and earlier this year won silver with the South African team at the ISA World Stand Up Paddle and Paddleboard Championships in Peru.
Not only does the uMhlanga resident train six days a week, pick up and drop off her children at school and at extra-curricular activities, but she also coaches the uMhlanga Lifesaving Club U10 nippers team. “It’s a lot of hard work but being a mom comes first. I had represented KZN schools in basketball and athletics and always lived an active lifestyle. When I was pregnant, I thought it was the end of my sporting life, but it was actually the beginning,” she said.
Both her son (Declan) and daughter (Astin) are also into sport, which consists of surfing, hockey cricket. Indeed the Bradfield household is a veritable sports field, with cricket nets, hockey posts, water polo nets and soccer posts.
“I think being active and being able to share that with my family is an amazing feeling. To me being a mom is about effective time management,” she said. When asked how she was celebrating Women’s Day, Bradfield replied by watching her son at the KZN indoor hockey trails. “Being a mom is an adventure, you have to enjoy the ride.”
