Zara Foley hoping coaching can replace playing after a knee injury ends her career at 21 years of age

WHEN something you love is taken so cruelly from you, and at a very young age, how strong do you need to be to pick yourself up?

That's the fate that befell 21 year-old Zara Foley, a Cork City WFC star and an Irish international from Ballincollig recently. 

She had been selected as the captain of Cork City women's National league team, along with being invited to attend Home base training with the senior Irish international squad when suddenly her life was turned upside down. 

At 21 years of age, she received the dreaded news that she could no longer play the sport she loved. 

The dream of playing professional football and the chance of playing in a World Cup had been taken away. Here the Fine Art student tells us of the heartache.

"It was mentioned to me initially by one of the surgeons in Cork that there was a possibility I couldn’t play again, but I thought that was going to be the worst case scenario and a highly unlikely outcome, so that’s what made me go to Dublin for a second opinion," said Foley.

"After our visit to Dublin, it was still unclear as to what our next move was. 

"That’s when we decided to go to London, where I was strongly advised to retire with immediate affect.

"My knee injury began in December / January of 2022/23, it was an injury that happened over time. 

"When I got MRI results back, the results had shown that I had torn my lateral meniscus, however my scenario was slightly more complicated as I was born with a discoid meniscus, which only roughly 3% of the population have. 

"After the surgery, things seemed to be going well, however after every rehab session, there was always swelling in my knee.

"In one of the training sessions on a Friday night, I participated in training but again, non-contact. 

"The day after, I was really struggling to walk, and my knee had ballooned out, which was the first time it had happened. 

"I knew in myself that something wasn’t right, and with Eileen Foyle (Cork City Women’s Physio) and Danny’s advice, we decided to get my knee scanned again. 

"When the second scan results came in, my surgeon who operated on my knee back in February reviewed them and said I had torn it again.

"I’ve been quite unlucky with injuries over the years.

"There’s been a lot that I’ve missed out on throughout the years due to injury. 

"My injuries have kept me from going to home based training for long periods of time, which makes it harder and harder to get back into when you’ve recovered. 

"One of the hardest things for me was not being able to play this season, as it was my first year taking on the role of captain for the Cork City women’s side.

"With regards to the International scene, it was a massive achievement for the girls to qualify for the World Cup. 

"I feel if it weren’t for the injuries I would have had a strong chance of getting on the squad. My last camp was back in April 2019 in Italy, where Colin Bell, the manager at the time said to me I was very close to becoming a starter on the team but I just needed to talk more.

"I represented Ireland at all underage levels. I got my first senior international call up at the age of 15, in December of 2017. 

"Ten months later, after having trained and attending all the camps, I received my first Senior International cap versus Poland. 

"That has been my biggest achievement in my soccer career. The following August, Colin Bell dropped down as manager, and unfortunately the first camp after that, I was dropped from the squad. 

"Soon after, my injuries started to become more of a frequent issue.

"This has definitely been one of the more difficult parts of being injured this season. 

"The role of captain was new to me, but having to do so whilst being on the sideline was a tougher challenge. 

"I wish I had the opportunity to captain the team on the field, and to grow and develop my captaincy skills.

"I only had 50% of my meniscus left, as half of it was taken out back in February, and that 50% that I had left was torn and in poor condition. 

"At this stage, the surgeon wasn’t worried about the meniscus, it was the cartilage, he mentioned, which had already began wearing away. 

"He stated I was already in the early stages of osteoarthritis, and he said the youngest sports person he performed a knee replacement on was 37 and if I was to continue he believed I would certainly have to undergo this at a much younger age. 

"In the end, the surgeon really strongly advised retirement."

While football was a huge part of her life, Foley is busy in her final year of college and is delighted with the distraction but hopes she can find a way to get involved with football again, maybe in a coaching role which she is very interested in.

"I’m in my final year of college, so I’ve been quite busy with that, so it’s been helpful for keeping my mind off of things. 

"Obviously, the girls, Danny, and all the staff have helped me a lot along the way.

"I would definitely like to try coaching. I might hate it, but I might love it. However with the year that’s in it, I underestimated how busy I would be with my final year of college, so maybe when I finish the year out, I can focus my concentration on coaching."