Soccer team captain overcomes injury, obstacles

Hailey Donnellon captain of the WCC women’s soccer team. Claire Convis | Washtenaw Voice

By Claire Convis
Staff Writer

Hailey Donnellon is the 20-year-old captain of the WCC women’s soccer team, and she is majoring in exercise science with a focus on physical therapy. She works as a sports assistant on campus, helping schedule games and events, and sometimes running games. Donnellon loves her job, and said that WCC soccer practice is her “happy place.”

But Donnellon’s road to where she stands today was bumpy. Donnellon was the captain of her high school’s soccer team, and during her senior year, she tore her anterior cruciate ligament at a tournament and had to be carried off of the field.

“I started bawling my eyes out because I’ve been playing soccer since I was four,” Donnellon said. “And it was at a showcase tournament, so colleges were there, looking and recruiting.”

Donnellon had to email the coaches and let them know that because of her injury, she could not be recruited.

The surgery was difficult, as Donnellon was allergic to the anesthesia and pain medications. She was bedridden for more than two weeks, which was discouraging because Donnellon had a teammate who had been up and moving around within four days of her ACL surgery. “It took a big mental toll on me,” Donnellon said.

Donnellon developed patellar tendonitis after the initial surgery, and had to have another operation.

Donnellon described her parents as her own personal nurses, on call day and night.

“One time, my dad picked me up, laid me on the kitchen counter and put my hair in the sink,” Donnellon said. “And my mom washed my hair, it felt so nice.”

Donnellon began physical therapy at the University of Michigan. The staff told Donnellon that she wasn’t going to be able to play soccer the way she used to before the injury.

“It was hard to hear that,” Donnellon said. “I was thinking, ‘I’m going to show you that I can get back to 100%.’”

Donnellion ended up finishing physical therapy sooner because she was committed to doing all of the workouts at home, even though she was still in a lot of pain.

Her friend, Maya Zaitounh, describes Donnellon as “crazy strong.”

A 20-year-old nursing student at WCC, Zaitounh has been friends with Donnellon since childhood.

“I was really worried that she wasn’t going to want to go back to soccer,” Zaitough said. “I’m so proud of how she pulled through the way that she did.”

“[Donnellon] has a really great support system with her family and her boyfriend, it was a team effort,” said Zaitounh. “And she worked super hard in her physical therapy.”

“I kind of see [the injury] as a blessing in disguise,” Donnellon said. “In high school I wasn’t the best student; school has always been hard for me, but being an athlete helped me stay on track.”

Donnellon said that it would have been a struggle to go straight to a four-year university, so she is thankful that she ended up going to WCC first, even though the injury was difficult to endure.

“When I came to WCC, I still hadn’t been cleared to play [soccer] yet, but tryouts were coming up and I knew I wanted to play,” Donnellon said.

“The day of tryouts I got cleared, I showed up and the coach was hesitant at first to have someone who was fresh off an injury, but I said, ‘Look, I’ve been training so hard, if I can show you that I’m strong enough, can I do this?’ and he said yes,” Donnellon said. She proved her strength and skill quickly, got along with all of the girls right away and went on to become the captain of the women’s soccer team.

Donnellon describes the WCC team atmosphere as very welcoming, and as captain of the team, she prioritizes team bonding activities. Last year, the team participated in the Adopt-A-Family program, which helps families in need of food, clothes and other necessary items.

This year, Donnellon hopes to have a team bonding activity involving breast cancer awareness and research.

Donnellon is considering attending Concordia University and playing soccer there, and someday going for a doctorate in physical therapy at Oakland University.

“At one point in your life, you’re going to have some sort of setback, whether it’s school, a relationship, family or sports,” Donnellon said.

“There’s still a future for you,” Donnellon said. “I kept telling myself, I’m going to be better; I’m going to be stronger than I was before.”