Mia Adaway: Overcoming Injury And Coming Back Stronger

Photo: Sheena Booker

Mia Adaway signed for Portsmouth in the summer of 2019 and has been playing at Westleigh Park for the past five years. At the beginning of this season, Adaway undertook a loan to Fulham in the London & South East Regional Women’s League before returning for the tail end of the season, however, for the past couple of years, her journey hasn’t been the most smooth sailing. 

Adaway tore her Lateral Collateral Ligament (LCL) in September of 2022. This is another very prominent injury in the women’s game being in the same category as Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries or Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) injuries. These ligaments all make up the movement of your knee – LCL and MCL controlling the sideways movement and the ACL controlling the front and back movements. In the football world during the past few years, followers have seen knee injuries left right and centre, from National League players to Women’s Super League players, it is still unknown what the main cause is. 

Depending on the severity, LCL injuries usually take 2-3 weeks to heal compared to the 6-12 months of ACL injuries. Whilst you may be thinking that’s not a long time compared to an ACL injury, this injury affected Adaway a lot worse. In the past two years since the original injury, Adaway has suffered from recurrent episodes of the injury, tweaking it three times, ending up in a lot of time in and out of playing, constant rehabilitation and physical/mental battles. 

Although this injury came with its challenges, Adaway took it into her own hands to make her time out of playing positive and memorable. 

“I have learnt that injuries can have a huge impact on your mental health but with support players can overcome the setbacks and come back stronger.” 

Mia Adaway

Adaway stated that in her life outside of football during injury, she worked in her job as a carer for children with clinical needs as well as applying for university in England at the same time. Furthermore, she spent a lot of time visiting her old teammates in America from when she was at Saint Leo University from 2021-2022.

For Adaway, keeping herself busy took the pressure off her injury which was having an impact on her mental health, however, this didn’t stop her from tirelessly focusing on rehab and strengthening herself back up to play again. 

She did this with the support of Portsmouth and Fulham. Both clubs shared their facilities and resources to get her back playing as soon as possible so that she can do what she does best, score goals. 

During her time at Fulham, Adaway spent a significant off the pitch in recovery but when she was given minutes there were reminders of why Adaway is highly rated by Jay Sadler and Steve Jaye from Portsmouth and Fulham respectively.

From February 2024 onwards, This was to manage Adaway’s rehabilitation more closely she returned to Portsmouth in the development squad. She managed four appearances, scoring one goal against local rivals Moneysfields Reserves.

Adaway (right) in action for Portsmouth U23s against Moneyfields Reserves. Photo: Sheena Booker

Following the end of the season, Adaway announced her departure from Portsmouth Women, however, she has a very bright future ahead of her and I can’t wait to see what she has in store for the future. The dedication she has to the sport as well as her mental strength sets the perfect balance a sportsperson needs in day-to-day life. 

If Adaway finds the right club over the summer, I can see her making a big impact and kick-starting her football career again.

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