Recovering from back surgery earlier this year, San Diego Wave defender Abby Dahlkemper did some soul searching about her resilience, perceived self-worth, self-confidence and happiness.
Her self-prognosis today: The best is yet to come.
After a more than 300-day absence from the pitch due to a fractured rib in May 2022, COVID and a back injury necessitating lumbar fusion surgery last September, Dahlkemper is fit and feeling “physically and mentally, you know, best I’ve ever had.”
“I learned to find happiness outside of the fields, which is really important,” she said Thursday before a morning training. “I feel like for a long time, my identity and my happiness was kind of tied to soccer.”
While she couldn’t play, Dahlkemper sat in on meetings and watched practice in Del Mar.
“What I could do in the moment … was to focus on me and get back better than ever and healthier than ever,” she said. “So I feel like I did that and I’m just like proud of myself.”
Considered by Wave president Jill Ellis “one of the best center backs in the world and a proven winner at the club and international level,” the 5-foot-7 defender played 45 minutes in her first match of the season Saturday against Angel City FC.
While she has aspirations about rejoining the national team and winning a NWSL championship, she repeated often that her career now is one day at a time.
“Being back out with the girls and playing and I felt like, you know, all was kind of right in the world,” said Dahlkemper, 30, the first player chosen for the team.
She credits a large support network: her husband, family, friends, teammates, coaches and medical staff for her well-being. They “picked me up when I needed to get picked up,” she said.
But she recalls a lot of lows on her rehab journey.
“It was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life physically, mentally,” said Dahlkemper, who won a bronze medal in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. “Not knowing how it’s going to go, how I’m going to heal, how I’m going to feel coming back was really scary.”
Up until her 2022 injuries, she had been healthy throughout her career, said Dahlkemper, who was voted 2017 NWSL Defender of the Year.
But now she was dealing with mental adversity rather than physical adversaries.
While recouping, “I learned to kind of deal with the highs and lows,” she said. “I think you just learn the most about yourself when your character is tested” or you’re going through some difficulties.
Dahlkemper’s short-term goal is to play consistently and competitively.
About her longer-term aims, the 2019 member of the National Women’s Soccer Team said: “I would love to bring a championship home here with the Wave. I obviously still have hopes and dreams to be with the national team. … The Olympics is next year, and I know that that is very much performance-based.”
The defender said having the NWSL championship game at Snapdragan Stadium in November is a little extra incentive for the players and it would be “amazing to play in a finals in front of our home crowd.”
She said she is finding out what she truly wants in life and what makes me happy.
“I feel like I strive for perfection, knowing I’m not going to be perfect, but I want to be the best person and player I’m capable of being, and I feel like I have yet to get to that mark.”
Dahlkemper will be happy to reunite with Wave teammates who have been away for the World Cup. Sophia Jakobsson has advanced with Sweden to the semifinals. And Emily van Egmond and the Matildas of Australia will face France on Saturday.
Wave goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan played for Canada.
As for the U.S. team that included Alex Morgan and Naomi Girma, Dahlkemper said she thought they played their best game against Sweden, adding, “I know the World Cup didn’t go as they wanted to, but you know there’s no doubt that the U.S. is going to be back on top and competing for an Olympic gold.”
After rest and recuperation, the Wave’s World Cup players return Sept. 3 when the club hosts the Houston Dash.
The Wave faces NJ/NY Gotham FC at 7 p.m. Saturday Aug. 19.
After watching Dahlkemper’s return last Saturday, Coach Casey Stoney said, “I couldn’t be more proud of her. … So yeah, we’re a very, very lucky club that we’ve got her in our squad.”
The player said after the match that the club provided everything she needed to recover.
“I just truly don’t have enough words to thank the San Diego Wave organization for everything they’ve done for me and the continued belief in me and the support,” Dahlkemper said. “It just means the world and I’m forever grateful.”
