Knee injury wrecks striker Katie Rood’s hopes of regaining Ferns selection

posted in: Football Ferns, News |

Striker Katie Rood has suffered a serious knee injury and has been forced to give up her hopes of regaining selection to the Football Ferns in time for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Rood (30) has revealed on her social media that she “joined the ACL club” when she was injured while playing for Scottish club Hearts against Celtic on April 19.

Though she had not been selected for the New Zealand since late 2021, Rood had publicly declared she wanted to play her way back into the Ferns squad for the World Cup.

She says the injury, coincidentally, happened at the same time England captain Leah Williamson suffered her Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury,

“I took a lot of consolation from Leah’s Instagram post about it. What she said definitely resonated with
me and helped shift my perspective on it a lot,” Rood told her followers.

Rood: ‘Looks like life has other plans for me …’

“I’m doing okay. Obviously gutted about it. Had intended to return to NZ in June for a training camp to have one
final crack at making the World Cup team.

“Looks like life has other plans for me … and as gutted as am about the World Cup dream being over, I’m beginning
to look forward to seeing what other opportunities are out there for me.

“It’s been an interesting process so far and one I’m sure I’ll learn a lot from, especially as it’s a serious issue in the women’s game currently.

“What’s hit me quite hard in this situation is just how many times I’ve been asked ‘is the club looking after you?’

“It’s a reminder that health care and medical treatment isn’t often the norm in the women’s game and we all know of players being left to fend for themselves after getting seriously injured with their clubs.

“I’m grateful for the support I’ve received here and will endeavour to keep you updated on the journey as navigate my way through it.”