For National Women and Girls in Sports day this year, we decided to showcase the extremely talented women featured in Athletes Who Rock! by Motez Bishara.
Lindsay Perry
Born in Panama City, Florida. Lindsay had always been a keen guitarist and vocalist. However, at 18 years old, Perry lost her mother and sister in a car accident and an aunt to murder. She dove headfirst into surfing as a way to cope.
“My therapy was the ocean and surfing, to not think about the things that I had just gone through,” she reflects. “So that’s what saved me. Getting it out of you physically is probably the easiest way to deal with it.”
Perry’s surfing obsession led to many competitions before her career in modelling surf clothing and took off- all while still writing and recording her music.
Essence Carson
Raised in Paterson, New Jersey, the six-foot WNBA All-Star and 2016 champion divides her time as a veteran floor leader in the league, an A&R manager with Motown Records, and a badass hip-hop artist, producer and multi-instrumentalist.
She lists Madrid and Istanbul as two of her favorite cities, where she was able to embrace new musical genres and exchange experiences with teammates from mixed backgrounds.
“It definitely influenced my taste in music,” she says of her travels. “And it helps you become inclusive of everyone, and I’m very appreciative of that. Despite what conflict is going on in the world, when music starts to play, it brings everyone together – just like sports.”
Daniela Hanuchova
Daniela is a former world class athlete, broadcaster and pianist from Slovakia.
From the ages of 6 to 14, she studied classical piano and credits the nerves she developed performing classical compositions as preparation for pressure-packed moments in her tennis career.
“Ever since I was little, whatever I tried to do was with intensity,” she says. “I always needed to have a purpose and a reason for doing things.”
Chelcee Grimes
Chelcee spent years playing club football as a striker for Liverpool F.C. Women. She faced many challenges on and off the pitch – including a difficult decision to drop her football career to pursue pop stardom when she was signed to Sony’s RCA Records.
“I think both (occupations) are very, very similar,” she explains. “It’s dog eat dog wherever you go. You’ve got to be the best at what you do, whether it’s in music or football, someone’s snapping away at your heels to be where you are.”
She now suits up for Tranmere Rovers in Liverpool, which competes in the fifth tier of English women’s football, to better balance the commitments of her packed schedule.
