Harriet Wellings is hoping to be flying high with TNS in Wales’s Adran Premier this season as she returns to elite football.
A physical training instructor for the RAF, the 25-year-old has recently done additional training that allows her to specialise in exercise and rehabilitation at her base at RAF Cosford.
It’s something the midfielder knows plenty about from her own experience. She had taken a break from football after leaving Wolverhampton Wanderers – having suffered a serious knee injury to the anterior and medial cruciate ligaments as well as the meniscus.
“It probably took me about 18 months until they allowed me to start training again, because the meniscus had quite a lot of work done, so it just takes time,” she tells SheKicks.net.
“You can do as much rehab as you want, but unfortunately [you can’t change] the time frame it just takes for everything to settle.”
But she got back on to the pitch through her work with the RAF, playing military football and inter-services competitions. She has represented the RAF – winning five Inter-Services titles (“it gets pretty heated, but it’s friendly competition!” she grins) – as well as the UK Armed Forces.
It all gave her the bug to start playing for a club again.
Harriet Wellings: I’m excited and nervous
Harriet had previously worked with TNS first-team coach Mikey Harris at Stoke City – her hometown club at which she spent seven years – and he rang her in the close season to ask if she would come down to training and see what she thought of the club.
“I said, ‘Oh, well, you’ve probably rung me at the right time because I’m after a club now,'” she recalls.
Competing in the Adran Premier is entirely new territory for Harriet, who’s spent the majority of her playing career in the northern section of the English FA Women’s National League.
“I don’t really know that much, it’s pretty new to me,” she says.
“It was just a good set-up with the club, so I was happy to sign.”
TNS got off to a flyer on Matchday 1, beating defending champions Cardiff City 1-0, with Harriet looking on as an unused substitute – but she is looking forward to getting back on to the pitch, whenever it might happen.
“I’m really excited. I’m a bit nervous.
“I’m looking forward to get back to it. It’ll be a bit strange playing regularly again, but we’ll see!”
