A passion for sport
Sophie Devine, Captain of the White Ferns, wants young people with diabetes to see all the possibilities that are open to them in sport.
“I want to try to get the message out there that actually staying active is one of the best things for diabetes.”
Sophie Devine remembers her own diagnosis as a 15 year old. She’d been losing some weight and was thirsty a lot, but her family put that down to all the sport she was playing. It was when she noticed her vision going wonky that she told her mum maybe something was wrong. Sophie says,
“That’s what prompted us to head to the GP and within literally 20 minutes of seeing the GP, I was off to the hospital.
“After I was diagnosed, my mum and I were in a state of shock, and I remember going and sitting in the car with her, and we just bawled our eyes out. It was a pretty overwhelming experience. Then, after five or so minutes, my mum said, okay, right. This is it. We know what we're dealing with. Now we move on. We get on with it. There's people a lot worse off than you, so we're going to absolutely go out there and we're gonna smash it.
“And that's been the attitude right from the start. I'm really lucky with it. We got home, and my brothers and sisters were all really supportive and wanting to learn about it. Over the years, my teammates have been awesome too. I've been really fortunate with a support network.”
Solid support
In the early days of her diagnosis, Sophie’s mother’s unfailing support from the sidelines was vital.
“I think that was one of the hardest things – that there’s no manual about how you as an individual will react with your insulin and food and activity, and so on. She was always there to help me work things out.”
Still, Sophie says she went through what many newly diagnosed teenagers do.
“I did really struggle with it at college. I was embarrassed, and I remember going into the toilets at lunchtime because I didn't want people to see me inject.
“I didn't really know anyone with diabetes, and I struggled to connect with people that didn't have it.”
Today, she loves talking to young people and sharing her story. She says,
“I like to hear their stories, too, and what they're struggling with or what they find helpful.
“Often I’ll speak to a group of teenagers and their parents, and their parents come up to me afterwards and tell me their child is too scared to play sport anymore, and yet they’d loved sport. They wonder what to do. It saddens me to hear how common that is. So I want to try to get the message out there that actually staying active is one of the best things for diabetes.”
Sophie is often asked how she manages lows on the playing field.
“I've had a couple of bad lows. Not for a while. But it’s about communicating.
“Once I was actually playing cricket for New Zealand and was going low. I came off and did a test and I was pretty low, but I didn't want to miss any of the game. So I just shoved a couple of jellybeans in and jumped back out without waiting.
“And yeah, I was no good. I remember standing out in the field and being like: I see about two or three balls here, and I'm a little bit tingly ... I had to go off again. That's when the physio said, ‘I think you probably need to take a little bit more time to let your sugars get back up. Let's have a sandwich ...’
“From that experience, I certainly learnt that you've got to give yourself time at the start and look after yourself, because you're not going to be any help to anyone on the sidelines or if you can't focus.”
Sophie has also always made sure to let the people around her know about her diabetes. “I’ve always tried to be really open if anyone has questions, particularly teammates. I'd much rather they ask than be scared or not want to upset me. It helps me as well, because if things do go a little bit wobbly, I've got a whole bunch of teammates that can say, ‘Hey, are you okay? Do you need to test? You look a bit funny ...’”
Love for cricket
Sophie says cricket was her first love – her father and brother both played, and from an early age she adored watching their games. She got onto the pitch herself as soon as she could, and although she’s played many sports over the years it’s cricket she’s remained most passionate about.
It’s also a sport that accommodates her diabetes. “With cricket, you're standing out in the field for quite a few hours ... I usually leave my kit just on the sidelines with the physio. If I need to, I can come to the boundary and do a quick test or a scan, and if it's something more I can simply say to the umpire, look I just need to shoot off for a couple of hours. I get subbed off and jump back on when I'm ready.”
Sophie says it means a lot to her when young people or their parents contact her to say that she’s helped them understand that it’s okay to play sport with type 1 diabetes.
She’s also enjoying the fact that the White Ferns now have another player with type 1 diabetes on the team – Jess Kerr. Sophie and Jess share stories and tips and with each other and together are providing twice the inspiration to young sportspeople with type 1.