Calleigh Hedley Balances Motherhood and Football Success

Calleigh Hedley is used to defenders hanging off her shoulder. Leaving her baby son at home is a very different kind of pressure.

Guernsey FC’s prolific striker is back leading the line after giving birth to Luca, returning to the pitch having missed half of last season through pregnancy. The goals have already started to flow again. The time away from him? That is the part she is still wrestling with.

"I'm not looking forward to spending whole days away from him," she admitted, speaking to BBC Radio Guernsey.

Goals, nappies and 4am alarms

Hedley is trying to balance two demanding roles: new mum and leading scorer. Training sessions, gym work, recovery – all of it now has to fit around feeds, naps and the kind of broken sleep no sports scientist can properly plan for.

Her support network is doing the hard yards in the background.

"My family are amazing, they're always helping me with Luca," she said. "If I need to go to the gym or anything, they're always offering 'we'll have him for a bit so you can go do what you need to do'.

"For the away games, for the home games, they say 'we'll have him, don't worry', so it's been a massive help."

When she does make it onto the pitch, the numbers underline just how vital she is. Despite only playing eight times last season, Hedley still scored 16 goals, finishing as the sixth-highest scorer in the Southern Region Women's Football League Division One South. That kind of return turns a forward into a focal point for an entire club.

Guernsey FC, heading into just their second season in the English league pyramid, know exactly what they have. They also know they need her.

A two-minute reminder

Any doubts about rust, rhythm or sharpness were swept aside in Guernsey’s first-ever Women's FA Cup tie last month. On a landmark day for the Green Lionesses, Hedley took just two minutes to find the net against Chessington & Hook United.

"I was shocked," she said. "I wasn't sure I was even going to get a goal, let alone score in two minutes."

She went on to score both of Guernsey’s goals in a 3-2 defeat, a personal statement amid collective disappointment. For a player returning after childbirth, the impact went far beyond the scoreline.

"It definitely helped me feel a bit better coming back into it, and I obviously had my family there watching and Luca was there, so it was really nice."

The picture is easy to imagine: a mother glancing up to the stands, a baby in the crowd, a sense that football – and life – has clicked back into place, at least for an afternoon.

Early flights, long days, hard choices

Now comes the grind of the league campaign. Guernsey open at home to Bognor Regis Town on Sunday, before a punishing run of three straight away games. For most players at this level, that means early alarms and airport queues. For Hedley, it also means long stretches away from her son.

Those away days are no simple coach journey. The squad must be up early to catch a flight to England and return the same evening, turning matchdays into full-day commitments.

"I don't know if I'll be able to commit to every single away game," she said. "But I will definitely be trying to do some, but it'll be difficult having a day away from him."

Guernsey will hope her boots make as many of those trips as possible. The goals are already back. The real test now is whether the island’s most reliable finisher can keep scoring while navigating the toughest fixture list of all: motherhood.