By Amy Tennery
AUCKLAND (Reuters) – There is no place like home for Olivia Chance, the most travelled player in women’s football, who will play in her own backyard when co-hosts New Zealand kick off their World Cup campaign this week.
Chance logged 145,406km across 12 trips between August 2022 and the end of March to meet club and country commitments for Scottish side Celtic and New Zealand’s Football Ferns, according to FIFPRO.
But her family will only have to travel some 125km from Hamilton to watch her play when New Zealand take on Norway in their opener at Auckland’s Eden Park.
“My mum, she loves travelling,” said Chance. “So she could be slightly disappointed – she can’t get a holiday out of it.”
But her head-spinning travel schedule was only one hurdle that the midfielder had to overcome this year.
A knee injury suffered during an April friendly against Iceland raised the possibility Chance might miss the tournament, which she has said will be the highlight of her career.
“There were definitely ups and downs, people, other professionals thinking, ‘Oh, she might not make it,'” she told Reuters.
“We had to really push. And I think you have to be mentally strong and be a strong female. Be like ‘No, I’m not listening to these people. I think I can do it.'”
Chance played her first match in 12 weeks on Friday in a closed-door friendly against Italy, going on at half-time as New Zealand lost 0-1.
The Women’s World Cup, which is being co-hosted by Australia, will be without several top players across numerous federations due to injury in a trend that has prompted calls for action.
“It’s about increasing the facilities and the level of care that female athletes are getting,” said Chance.
“When I get off that plane, who do I have in my club, in my national team to make sure that I’m ready for that game that’s in 36 hours after I’ve just flown back from New Zealand to Scotland. It’s crazy because how often do men do that?”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in Auckland; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
