In a continuing series on former and current players and their debuts for Australia, RUPERT GUINNESS speaks with Demi Hayes who is in Tokyo and on the cusp of playing in her first Olympic Games as a member of the Australian women’s Sevens team
Demi Hayes values representing Australia immensely, and on no more occasion will she than on her Olympic Games debut in Tokyo in the Women’s Rugby Sevens that starts Thursday.
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Born in the mining town of Mount Isa in the Gulf Country of north-west Queensland, Hayes grew up in the Darling Downs in Queensland’s south; firstly, at the family property near the town of Glenmorgan, then Warwick where she went to boarding school and Toowoomba. She then moved from Toowoomba to Sydney in 2015 to join the Australian Youth Sevens squad. In her 23 years, Hayes has come to understand that her journey to becoming the Olympian she is today was a step-by-step process that began as a tacker in the outback.
“When I was really young, my dad said, ‘If you make this team [that’s] really good, and then we want to chase the next jersey and the next,’” Hayes said before the Australian Olympic Committee ratified her selection in the Australian team for Tokyo. “When I got the Queensland jersey for touch [football], mum and dad were so excited. They were like, ‘Okay, we need an Australian jersey.’ When I got the call up for the Commonwealth Youth Games [in 2015], I was speechless, so excited, so proud. When I put that jersey on, we didn't think it could go any further. That's what made my dad so excited. I play for them [her parents].
“I play for my country, my brother and sister. When I look at the people who can't be in this position or have had the opportunity and missed out, I play for all of them.”
Even better, Hayes is now ideally placed as an Olympic first timer to produce her best in the world’s biggest sporting stage. She was not in the Australian team that won the Olympic gold medal at the 2016 Games in Rio. But the then 17-year-old did train and play with the Australian Olympic squad leading up to those Games. She even made her Sevens Series debut earlier that year in Canada against Brazil where Australia won a bronze medal.
“I played with the [2016] group before they went [to the Rio Olympics],” Hayes said.
“I was lucky enough to experience their build up, and that was pretty amazing. We speak about it now, but the belief and how much work that had gone in that was crazy. I saw how much went into it, and how much it paid off. Obviously, the next four-year cycle was my goal. Now it has become a five-year cycle. Even more hard work has gone into it.”
Keeping the Olympic Dream Alive
After all the hurdles COVID placed before the Australian team in its preparations for Tokyo, Hayes is grateful she can compete in these postponed Games. “Christmas came in 2019, and [the Olympics] was our focus for 2020,” Hayes said. “All of a sudden, [COVID] put everything on hold. But after the 100 days [to go to the postponed Olympics], everything was much more real. Everything we talked about was the Olympics … this was our priority, day-in day-out. That's why we do what we do, because that's our goal: to win a gold medal in Tokyo.”
That is not to say Hayes or the Australian team were immune to dark moments as COVID spread, notwithstanding their understanding of the greater and tragic worldwide impact of the virus. When the Olympics were postponed, Hayes said, “we didn't really know what was happening. We were training really hard … consistently for four to five weeks. I was at the end of it. I didn't think I could go any further, but I was like, ‘We need something to inspire and keep us going forward. We found that, but there were tough times when you think you can't keep running or tackling. It's a mental thing. Obviously, the girls pick you up then too.”
However, some pluses emerged from the uncertainty as COVID protocols forced changes in training and competition schedules and living environments. The Australian squad learned to cope with unpredictable change, ever-present in sport – and life. The squad, especially new members like Hayes, also got more to further mature and develop as athletes. “We had to bring in ‘adaptability’ quickly,” says Hayes. “We had to adapt to the new normal. We had to change our way of thinking and training. We're all a year older, a year more mature. And we have learned a lot over that year; whether it's training one-on-one or as a whole group.”
The limitation of competition was a major hurdle, but all rugby nations experienced that. “You'll never see anything as good as international footy,” says Hayes says who, after the AON Uni Sevens in March, played with the John Manenti coached-Australian squad in the series against New Zealand at Auckland, New Zealand in May and the Oceania International Rugby Sevens at Townsville, Queensland late last month. Results aside, that return gave the Australians the experience needed to know where they must lift in their final preparations.
Rest assured, winning is Hayes’ mindset. Asked what her ‘dream’ vision for the Games is, she says it is based on: “Visualisations of winning, winning matches and being there with my team with a gold medal around our back.” She savoured that experience at the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games where Australia won gold. She also has fond memories of the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast where Australia won the silver after losing to New Zealand. “We didn't get the gold, [but] it was still an amazing moment,” she says. “Standing in front of family and friends with a silver, holding hands, being applauded for our work. Five years have gone into this [since the 2016 Olympics.] We can't be more ready.”
It’s been quite a journey for Hayes who began rugby at age 16 after competing in athletics, basketball, netball and touch football at school. A local rugby coach saw her athleticism with the ball and invited her to a rugby trial. So, came a new direction that led her to representing the Darling Downs, then Queensland before moving to Narrabeen on Sydney’s Northern Beaches in 2015 to join the Australian Youth Sevens squad. “All of a sudden, I had a development contract after the summer … then a full-time contract,” Hayes said.
From the Outback to Tokyo … and Beyond
Hayes loved touch football, still does; but the lure of becoming an Olympian fuelled her move to Sevens Rugby. She also believes the “width pass and speed onto the ball” in touch football are elements that transfer well to Sevens Rugby. “I love ‘touch’ to death. And then the contact came in and it became a bit more exciting. So many different aspects of the game really excited me … obviously the Olympic pathway was a massive chase for me.”
Hayes was inspired by the Australian women’s gold medal win in Rugby Sevens at the 2016 Games in Rio - “I felt really connected to the girls.” But the seed of her Olympic dream was planted by athlete Cathy Freeman and her 2000 Olympic Games 400m gold medal win in Sydney. “I was young and growing up,” Hayes says. “She was always my idol. I loved seeing what she did for Australia. It was probably one of my favourite moments that I've seen.”
Within the Australian Women’s Sevens squad, Hayes has learned to tap into all sources of knowledge and support. “Everyone inspires me,” she says, adding that at “everyday training someone does something good.” She also cites moments of “extra aggression or extra energy,” explaining that these “inspire me to be better.” But she is also motivated by the “young girls coming through … because I want to be better. They're tripping on my toes, and I want to be on the next person's toes.” She is also driven by the elder squad members who, after setting the benchmark with their Olympic gold medal win in 2016, have continued to raise standards. “There's lots of different people that inspire me for different reasons,” she adds, citing as her partner, Simon Kennewell, a member of the Australian Men’s Sevens team who was not selected for the Tokyo Games, and her parents as key people in that mix.
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After Tokyo, Hayes will understandably reassess her future in the game, as all Olympians do, knowing there are four years in an Olympiad; or five years, as has been the case with the Tokyo Games. Sevens players may consider retirement; their future in the game due to the risk of injury or non-selection, the financial security in rugby union, vocations out of the game, family priorities or parenthood. To help Australian players, the Rugby Union Players’ Association provides specialised educational and support systems. The Collective Bargaining Agreement that came into effect on January 1, 2018 also includes a raft of new measures.
A number of these measures address the status of women players – such as, pay parity with a base, entry-level full-time wage implemented for men and women in Sevens rugby, a Pregnancy Policy that allows for maternity leave; and for the Wallaroos in XVs rugby, guaranteed match payments and squad assembly fees as semi-professional athletes. The CBA also included the appointment of a full time Player Development Manager to provide numerous support services in education, career pathways, mental health and wellbeing.
The CBA was adjusted last year due to COVID, but RUPA chief executive Justin Harrison says the above elements were not affected: “They are an industry benchmark and position that the players are very parochial about. They’ll be enshrined in the next iteration of the CBA.”
Hayes understands the need to prepare for life after rugby. While playing, she has studied a Bachelor of Communications and Media with the assistance of Griffith Sports College. But her plan is to remain in Australian rugby after Tokyo. “I want to be around for a lot longer than another four year cycle,” she said. “I think past Tokyo and what our program looks like. “I see a lot of young potential coming. There's nothing else I want to do right now, except being in Tokyo and play and stand on that podium. But there are things after that I want to achieve … the Commonwealth Games and World Cup next year. There's definitely goals.”
