Podcast: Sonny Bill Williams Talks About Representation in Sport
Welcome to the Booktopia podcast. I’m Nick Wasiliev, and I’m recording this podcast on the lands of the Kamilaroi nation, and I pay my respects to all elders past, present, and emerging. This was and always will be Aboriginal land.
Now, for any folks who follow me around in the online world, I’m an absolute sucker for all things rugby, and my guest today is a living legend in that space.
Sonny Bill Williams is one of the most decorated and recognized athletes in the world. A dual international representative for New Zealand. A professional boxer.
Sonny Bill, welcome man, it’s great to have you here.
What a intro bro, uh, great to be here, thank you very much and yes, a shoutout and, uh, great to see you, um, you know, paying- paying our respects to the, uh, indigenous people, the- the rightful owners of this- of this land.
Yeah, look, I wanna talk to you about this, the struggles you had with self-esteem, just cause I mean from the outside, you know, from a young age you were a fantastic sports player, you excelled on the field, you just felt like you were in y- that natural space.
But I love how you talked about how you said you just wish you had a m- magic wand so you could wave self-belief into Pasifika and Māori youngsters.
Um, you know, why is it so many- so many people, so many Pasifika, young, uh, players, Māori players, why do they struggle with this? What is- What’s going on there?
You know, I can’t speak, like, collectively, but, I, uh, you know from my- my journey and what I think it i- what I think it is, a key element to it is what we see growing up, what I se- what I saw growing up. Like I said, I didn’t see anyone in a position of prominence, you know, uh, from a sports playing point of view.
We see people … Now as more than 50% make up the NRL and, um, rugby, uh, people on the field, you know, this is at a professional level, so we see that and we see, whoa! You know, growing up, I c- I connect with that, I see my people doing that. I can thrive in that space.
Growing up if you don’t- all you see is laborers … You know, for me, um, I come from a household of all painters, my dad was a painter, uh, my uncles are painters, my grandfathers were painters, you know, so I- I …
Uh, subconsciously it’s ingrained in me and that, you know, I can be a great painter, paint houses for a living, you know.
I didn’t see anyone that worked on a board. I didn’t see anyone that, uh, was a boss of a organization or, you know, any of that, so I f- I feel like that has a big part to play in it,
uh, cause subconsciously that’s all … if you- if you- if that’s all you ever see, you know, that’s all you ever think that you can be.
Vocabulary:
pay my respects to – (expression) to show honor, politeness, and formal praise to a group or person, “I always visit the community leaders to pay my respects to them when arriving in a new town.”
elders – (noun) older members of a community who are respected for their wisdom, experience, and leadership, “The young villagers always listen closely to the stories told by the elders.”
emerging – (adjective/context) growing, developing, or coming into notice as future leaders, “The university offers a special leadership program for emerging young politicians.”
Aboriginal – (adjective) relating to the indigenous people who have lived in Australia since the very beginning, “The museum contains many beautiful examples of traditional Aboriginal artwork.”
folks – (noun/informal) people in general, “Many folks in our neighborhood prefer to walk rather than drive to the local market.”
absolute sucker for – (idiom) to like or love something so much that you cannot resist it, “I am an absolute sucker for dark chocolate ice cream after dinner.”
all things – (expression) everything related to a specific subject or category, “As an engineer, he reads magazines covering all things related to modern aviation.”
living legend – (idiom) a person who is alive today and widely admired for being exceptionally good at something, “The retired soccer player is considered a living legend by fans worldwide.”
space – (noun/context) a specific professional field, area of interest, or industry, “She has worked in the digital marketing space for more than ten years.”
decorated – (adjective/context) having received many awards, medals, or honors for great achievements, “The decorated military officer was welcomed home with a large parade.”
recognized – (adjective) widely known, famous, and acknowledged by many people globally, “The golden arches are a highly recognized symbol around the world.”
athletes – (noun) people who are trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games, “The Olympic games feature the most talented athletes from every country.”
dual international representative – (expression) a sports player who has competed for two different nations or in two different sports at the highest level, “Playing at the World Cup for two different countries made him a rare dual international representative.”
intro – (noun/informal) short for introduction; the opening statement that presents a person or topic, “The podcast host gave a very friendly intro before inviting the guest to speak.”
shoutout – (noun/informal) a quick public mention or expression of praise and thanks to someone, “The singer gave a warm shoutout to her band members during the concert.”
indigenous people – (expression) the original, native people who inhabited a land before colonists or settlers arrived, “The government passed a new law to protect the cultural lands of the indigenous people.”
rightful owners – (expression) the people who legally, morally, or traditionally belong to or possess something, “The police found the stolen bicycle and returned it to its rightful owners.”
struggles – (noun) great difficulties, challenges, or personal fights against hard situations, “He spoke openly about his early struggles with learning how to speak English.”
self-esteem – (noun) confidence in your own worth, abilities, or value; self-respect, “Winning the public speaking competition gave a huge boost to her self-esteem.”
from the outside – (idiom) how a situation looks to other people who are not personally involved in it, “From the outside, their business looked highly successful, but they were actually losing money.”
excelled – (verb) did exceptionally well or was much better than others at an activity, “She excelled at mathematics from a very young age and won many awards.”
magic wand – (noun/expression) an imaginary tool used to instantly and easily fix a difficult problem, “There is no magic wand that can instantly fix the city’s heavy traffic problems.”
self-belief – (noun) trust in your own talents, worth, and ability to succeed, “To pass the difficult survival test, you must have complete self-belief.”
youngsters – (noun) young people, children, or teenagers, “The local community center offers free swimming lessons for city youngsters.”
collectively – (adverb) as a whole group together, rather than as separate individuals, “The employees collectively decided to donate a portion of their salary to charity.”
journey – (noun/figurative context) the long process of a person’s life experiences, growth, and personal development, “Her journey from an entry-level clerk to company president took twenty years.”
key element – (expression) a highly important part or factor necessary for a specific result, “Trust is always the key element in building a strong human relationship.”
position of prominence – (expression) a highly visible, powerful, or famous status in society, “After winning the election, she stepped into a position of prominence within the government.”
point of view – (idiom) a particular way of considering or judging a situation; an opinion, “From my point of view, starting the project early is always the best strategy.”
make up – (phrasal verb) to form, compose, or equal a specific part or percentage of a total, “Women make up more than half of the students enrolled in the medical school.”
professional level – (expression) the highest stage of an activity or sport where people are paid a salary to do it as a full-time career, “He trained for eight hours every day to finally compete at a professional level.”
thrive – (verb) to grow, develop, and become highly successful or healthy in a particular environment, “Certain plants thrive best when they are kept in direct, warm sunlight.”
laborers – (noun) people who do hard physical work, especially outdoors or in construction, “A team of laborers worked through the night to repair the broken water pipe.”
household – (noun) a house and all the people living together inside it as a family unit, “Growing up in a busy household with five siblings taught her how to share.”
subconsciously – (adverb) happening in a way that influences your mind or behavior without you fully realizing or thinking about it, “He was subconsciously tapping his foot to the rhythm of the background music.”
ingrained in me – (idiom) deeply fixed, rooted, or established in a person’s mind or beliefs from a young age, “The habit of waking up early was ingrained in me by my strict parents.”
for a living – (idiom) as a regular job to earn the money needed to pay for your life expenses, “She designs custom websites for a living and works from her home office.”
worked on a board – (expression/context) served as a high-level manager or director who makes major decisions for a large corporation, “After years of running successful factories, he finally worked on a board of directors.”
organization – (noun) an official group of people, such as a business, charity, or club, formed for a particular purpose, “The international organization works hard to provide clean water to distant villages.”
part to play – (idiom) a specific role, duty, or influence that contributes to a larger outcome or situation, “Every team member has an important part to play if we want to win the game.”