Former Lakewood ace Sheehan's soccer scholarship dreams disrupted at Daytona

FORMER Cork City and Lakewood player Megan Sheehan, from Macroom, was enjoying her freshman year at Daytona College in Florida before Covid-19 disrupted all her plans.

Only pre-season played and yet to be involved in a competitive game, Sheehan was devastated at the thought of not playing a competitive game in her first season at the American college.

“Unfortunately, Covid-19 put an early end to my freshman year,” said Sheehan.

“When I heard the news at the end of spring break that our season was called, I was devastated. It’s very difficult not doing what you love everyday with the people you love to be around. It would be very disappointing if my sophomore season got interrupted.”

Nervous of not being allowed to return to the States for her sophomore year, Sheehan made the decision to stay put and not returnhome to Cork.

A tough decision, and a worry for her parents Kevin and Annette, Sheehan felt staying was best for her.

“I wanted to stay out here in case I couldn’t get back in when our season was about to start. My parents did worry about me staying here as the virus had not peaked in the States, but we knew travelling was also a dangerous thing to do.

“I always miss my family and it is hard not to be with them at this time, but as long as they are safe and healthy, I am happy. We speak every couple of days on FaceTime which is a big help.

“Since college classes were all changed to online and our spring season had been called off, things have been different for me lately. Everybody had to leave the Oaks, which is the place all of the athletes on scholarship live. As I am an international student, I got to stay there a little longer with one of my other English teammates. 

"Myself and my friend, luckily enough, got to move into an apartment in Orlando for the summer. It’s very different as we don’t have the same routine to follow anymore and it’s hard not to be with our team-mates and coaches every day doing what we love, but we are managing ok.

“There are many things I miss about training with my team-mates, but it’s important for us all to keep working hard and pushing ourselves. I have been working a lot on fitness to ensure that I go into the fall season ready to go. 

"We’ve also been playing a lot of five- and six-a-side games with other friends in the area which is something we are thankful to have during these times. 

"We work off each other and make sure we’re still putting in the time to get better as a player. Hopefully things will resume to some normality sooner rather than later.”