Our Sydney Swans mums, whether near or far from their children, play one of the biggest roles in each player’s football journey
From driving them around to trainings as a child to being the warm hug they need after a game, this Mother’s Day we recognise all the amazing Mums and mother figures part of our football club.
Two mums who experience the highs and lows of their children’s careers are Browyn (Bron) Gulden, mother of Errol and Claudia Hurley, mother of Sofia.
Bron, who hails from Victoria, has been heavily involved in football since she was a child, paving the way for her children to love the game she grew up enjoying from the sidelines.
As a child she followed her Dad around at the local football club in the 1970s, watching the men was all she could do with women not playing back then.
Fast forward five decades and Bron got her chance to play the game she loves and proved age is all but a number in 2021 when she made her football debut at 55-years of age for the UNSW Bulldogs reserves side in the AFL Sydney league.
For the last 25-years she has been a football Mum through sons Errol and Adam (former Swans VFL Captain) and daughter Senna who has played for the QBE Swans Academy and UNSW and has been playing in Adelaide this season.
“We always gave the kids a footy. A footy was always in my hand and the first thing I gave to the kids,” Bron said.
“Like all parents juggling kids sports, particularly in the junior years , it was not easy but we made it work, we would go from game to game to game. That’s all part of the joy, following your kids around.”
Bron is now heavily involved in the game and her and Errol see plenty of each other at home and at the Sydney Swans with Bron excelling in her coaching career and is the current AFLW Assistant Coach and QBE Academy U16 Girls Coach.
“I’m obviously very excited for her,” Errol said.
“My mum didn’t get as many opportunities as me when she was younger to be able to play and coach the game.
“I think it’s really awesome that she’s getting those opportunities now and to have her at the same club as me is unbelievable.”
Claudia Hurley is the mother of Swans AFLW player Sofia and she is newly navigating her daughter’s elite level career which has seen Sofia move from the family home in Melbourne to the harbour city.
Claudia is from Colombia, growing up in Botoga and moved to Australia in 2001 before having Sofia three years later in 2004.
19-year old Sofia was drafted to the Swans with pick five in the 2022 AFLW Draft and shone in her debut season, finishing third in the inaugural Swans Club Champion Award and also earned a Rising Star nomination in her first year in the AFLW.
She recently moved to Sydney full-time for her football commitments and is also studying architecture. She credits her mum for giving her that push to pursue her talents.
“I look up to my Mum because she is incredibly determined and hard working, and has created so many opportunities for my siblings and I, which she may not have been given when she was younger and for that I am very grateful,” Sofia said.
“Without mum I wouldn’t be playing football today. When I wanted to give football away because the girls couldn’t play with the boys anymore when I was younger, mum convinced me to join my local girls team and without that push I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
Claudia, who visits Sydney as much as she can, said she is proud to see her daughter excelling in several facets of her life.
“To see Sofia’s work ethic and the young adult she has become today makes me really proud,” Claudia said.