Phaidra Knight
Georgie ( Paula George ) with PK, Phaidra Knight.
Phaidra Knight. The free radical flanker
It was during a late night Insta scroll that I stumbled across the fact the Phaidra Knight was going to be in NZ. ‘THE’ PK and it was so under the radar. Even though its RWC time PK is here on a visit arranged by the US Embassy - and the rugby world seems oblivious to the fact that a Hall Of Famer is even in town. But so good for us!!
Her reaction when she realised that my sidekick and camera woman was not just Gie - but Georgie the former England player, was classic. So awesome to see such joy and awe combined and the respect given to a former opposition player - was truly unique to the rugby field.
Phaidra’s story is epic. Her list of achievements alone will take up half a blog post. There’s nothing quite like sitting having a chat in little old Auckland and having someone name drop Billy - Jean King. It’s such a reminder of the places rugby can take you - or sport in general. The opportunities and doors it can open. It’s seen PK travel all over the globe and this past week that included Samoa and luckily for us - Aotearoa. This trip was as a speaker for the US Embassy but she managed to squeeze in a few training sessions at the City Kickboxing Gym with the legendary trainer Eugene Bareman. She even had a season with World Title Holder ‘Stylebender’.
Like many rugby players before her - she says things as they are. Like the Hall Of Fame. She was blown away to be inducted as the first African American but couldn’t believe that those before her hadn’t been. She ‘mentioned’ Kathy Flores and pointed across the room at Paula George - “these women should have been in there before me’. “Don’t get me wrong, I was stoked at the award and it gave me a sense of validation for all the hard work I had done, but others deserved that recognition too’.
What it did do though is raise the profile of rugby in the United States hugely and opened doors for Phaidra to rub shoulders with greats in other sporting codes across America. It also gave thousands of girls around the world hope - seeing an African American woman celebrated in a sport that has been dominated by white men was a turning point.
Meanwhile, Phaidra can’t stick around for the RWC to start - her biological clock is ticking and not in the way most women think about these things. She has a Mixed Martial Arts World Title to win and feels like times running out to prove that middle age women can still be competitive. I wouldn’t bet against her.
When we are planning the video interviews we like to ask our subjects if there is a player they would like to be interviewed by. PK didn’t hesitate in suggesting Jordan Matyas. A player she has admired from afar and regards very highly both on and off the field. The reporte was fantastic and the mutual admiration so obvious. We described their meeting as ‘real meets real’ and that’s exactly what it felt like. The video will go ‘live’ later this year.