Gemma McCaw has revealed that husband Richie McCaw is shaping up to be their daughter Charlotte’s ‘favourite’ parent.
The Black Sticks hockey player and influencer posted an image of baby Charlotte, who turns one this month, splashing around in a public swimming pool with the All Black legend on Instagram, captioning it, “Is there anything cuter than a Dad swimming with his baby?
“These two have spent some quality time together this week while I’ve been training and secretly I think he’s the favourite #daddysgirl.”
Gemma has come out of retirement to play for the Black Sticks again, so there will be a lot more Daddy-daughter time ahead for the adorable duo as Gemma ramps up her training.
The doting mother of one had thought her international playing career was over when she became a parent, but realised it could still be an option after she began playing club hockey in Christchurch when Lottie was four months old.
Within a couple of months, she’d agreed to play for Midlands in the National Hockey League, then for Adelaide in the Australian league. Then Black Sticks coach Graham Shaw came knocking.
Gemma – who’s still breastfeeding – revealed in this week’s issue of Woman’s Day that she knew in her heart she’d like to give international hockey another go, with the ultimate aim being selected for the 2020 Olympics in Japan.
She told the publication, for which she writes a weekly column, that she and Richie are confident they can make the next few months work with the help of Gemma’s mum Michelle Flynn, a teacher, who will take a year off work to help out with baby Charlotte.
Gemma shares a close bond with her Tauranga-based mum, and visits her and their extended family as often as she can. They talk on the phone every day.
Richie, who works as a pilot for Christchurch Helicopters, will also scale back his hours “so they’ll share the care of Lottie when I’m training,” Gemma told the publication.
Gemma, who is pictured above with Richie and Charlotte on the day the family left for Japan to watch the Rugby World Cup, says Richie is “an amazing dad”.
“He puts so much time and energy into parenting Lottie,” she told Woman’s Day.
“When she was tiny, he’d be up in the night with me when I was feeding, and now he spends hours playing with her on the floor. When he’s away, he’s always FaceTiming because he doesn’t want to miss anything.”
Sounds like a superstar dad.
