As a native New Zealander, far-flung travel has long been part of life for Meikayla Moore, a 24-year-old defender at Liverpool FC Women. Playing with her local club from a young age, she knew a big move was inevitable if she wanted to play at the highest level.
“As a young girl, it was always something that I wanted to achieve,” she says. “In New Zealand, there isn’t a professional women’s league, so [moving] was always on the cards if I wanted to stay in the national setup and continue my career.”
In fact, it was the young women in the national team, the Football Ferns, who inspired Moore the most.
“I think because New Zealand is so remote from everywhere else, I idolised a lot of the girls from our national framework. They’re actually still there now, and I remember when I had my first tour with the Football Ferns and I’d had those players on my wall – then I was going to training with them for the first time.
“Players like Abby Erceg, Ria Percival, Amber Hearn, Ali Riley – all those girls were influential because I saw them, and I was like: ‘I want to do that, I want to be in the Football Ferns environment, I want to follow in their footsteps.’”
Moore in action for the Football Ferns (top); with mum Donna on international duty
The first leg of her journey was to Germany, where she played first for FC Köln in the women’s Bundesliga during the 2017-18 season. A couple of seasons at Duisburg followed, including a bad injury just ahead of the 2019 Women’s World Cup, before she signed with Liverpool, at the beginning of this season, where she is fitting right in.
“Coming from New Zealand, we’re very carefree – we’re just living the life and quite chilled. So I think coming to Liverpool, it’s quite similar to home – you could say there’s a lot of banter between the girls, we get along quite well.”
That said, it’s not always easy living so far from home.
“I’m quite family-oriented, so that’s a really important thing for me. I regularly keep in contact with my mum and sisters, my grandma – I schedule in weekly video calls, because it’s so important to me. And being so far away, it’s important for me to keep those connections close, to be able to lean on when I need to.”
At the 2019 Women’s World Cup with mum Donna and sister Danielle; in action for Duisburg in Germany
When disaster struck and Moore tore her achilles while training in France ahead of the 2019 Women’s World Cup, she was lucky, she says, that her family was already travelling to Europe on the same day, and so they were present when she woke from surgery.
Though Moore realises injury is “part of the game”, a tough time followed as she underwent rehabilitation in Christchurch, New Zealand, afterwards. However, it was in these difficult moments that she realised who the most important figures in her journey were. Her family, and in particular, her mum, who she describes as her “rock”, and says she is on the phone to straight away regardless of the 13-hour time difference, whenever she has a problem.
Moore suffered a serious injury ahead of the 2019 Women’s World Cup
She also hailed her physiotherapist, Tamsin, as a key figure in her recovery.
“I couldn’t have done it without her, and I do think you notice in those sorts of times how important the people around you are – how much you can, and need to rely on them to get through it.”
But Moore isn’t used to being confined to one place for too long. She loves travel and long journeys – in which she makes sure she always has some good music and a book with her when she’s on the road. But she is getting settled in Liverpool now and, as a big coffee drinker, can’t wait for normality to resume so she can explore some of the city’s cafes.
‘There’s a lot of banter between the girls,’ says Moore of her teammates
Another thing Moore misses is playing in full stadiums. “The people make the atmosphere, and the people make the game, so to be able to play in a packed stadium again will be pretty cool,” she says.
“It’s always nice to be able to play in front of people and hear them cheering behind you, but we know that it’s not possible right now and since coming here I have felt a lot of love.”
In terms of where she wants to be next, there is only one destination, she says: “Anfield.”
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