Midfield ace Hannah happy that Athlone answered her call
By Kevin Egan
The vast campuses of Auburn University in Alabama and the University of Texas might be a different world to the much more rural Irish midlands, but despite studying at those famous sporting colleges, Athlone Town midfielder Hannah Waesch is still a small town girl at heart, and that has helped her to feel right at home in her new surroundings in Westmeath.
After her graduation from UoT last December, Waesch, who also holds a German passport, put the feelers out across Europe to try and develop her football career. Though uncapped, she had been selected for a USA U-18 international training panel, and was determined to follow her ambitions to play professionally.
Her approaches went unheeded, with one exception.
“I put some feelers out and honestly Athlone was the only place where I got a call back and I’m so grateful for it and how it worked out, with Champions League football and the group of girls I’m playing with,” she said, speaking in advance of the historic Champions League tie between Athlone Town and Breidablik FC tomorrow (Wednesday).
“Before coming here, I’ve lived in the same small town (The Colony, Texas) my whole life. My dad grew up there and he never left. So you recognize how important roots are, and the importance of a community extending their arms out and welcoming new people in.
“I’ve not been in an environment where community rallies around a team, let alone a women’s soccer team before. This is completely foreign to me, it’s been a rollercoaster of emotions. I’ve got people that don’t even know me embracing me after games, and you don’t get that in many places.
“If I’m having an off game, and everybody has an off game, but when you know that people are showing up to support you when you’re down, you have to work hard as a basic foundation. They’re making the time for you, the least you can do is work hard for them.”
Over the course of the chat, Waesch makes several references to a “blue collar” upbringing, and her desire to bring the same attitude to the field of play. It has led to her emergence as one of the most dynamic central midfielders in the League of Ireland this year, where she marries a strong defensive understanding with the ability to pop up for crucial goals, including in both of the club’s Champions League ties so far against Cardiff City and ŽNK Agram.
“The town is so deeply embedded within this club that you can’t separate the mentalities. As a foreign player coming in, you assimilate to that mentality because it’s everywhere you look and in everybody that you meet.”
It might not have been the path she imagined, but it’s one she’s very happy to travel.
“I’ve crossed paths with a few Irish players in my time in the States so I knew about the league, while any football fan anywhere in the world knows about the institution of the Champions League. But then actually being here and getting the opportunity to play in Champions League, I could never have dreamed of being in this situation.”
Athlone Town’s clash with the Icelandic champions kicks of at 12pm on Wednesday at the FC Twente in the Netherlands, with the winners advancing to meet either the host club or Red Star Belgrade on Saturday evening. Victory in those games would be the most progress by any Irish club in the competition since Peamount lost out to Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 32 in 2011.
The Athlone side is a cosmopolitan mix, with many more Americans and captained by Izzy Groves, a Jamaican international.
But even though she’s only been here since the start of the year, Waesch would be very happy to add an Irish passport to her US and German papers.
“I’ve no Irish connection that I know of, but we’re looking for it. I’ve asked my mom to try and come up with something! I’d absolutely love to have the chance to play for Ireland in the future, if that could happen!” she added.