Gotham FC placed protector Kelley O’Hara The team announced Saturday that she was placed on the season-ending injury list due to a chronic knee ailment, ending her final season. The team said she will “remain in the environment for the remainder of the season in a leadership role.”
O’Hara, an Olympic gold medalist for the U.S. women’s national team, announced her plans in May. Retiring from football At the end of 2024 NWSL He became the first Indian player to play this season, after battling ankle and knee injuries.
“Getting injured and coming back, and getting injured and coming back, and just continuing to do that, it really takes a toll on you,” O’Hara explained. Women’s only sport In May.
O’Hara, a mainstay of the USWNT for over a decade, played in four World Cups, winning two of them in 2015 and 2019. She is also a WPS champion and a two-time NWSL champion, having won titles in Washington Spirit in 2021 and Gotham in 2023.
O’Hara has been with the NWSL since the beginning, beginning her career in the league with Sky Blue FC, then working with the first version of Utah Royals FC and then moving to the Spirit. She signed with Gotham in January 2023.
Gotham said it will celebrate O’Hara’s career on Oct. 20, when the team Orlando Pride in their final regular season home match at Red Bull Arena.
The federation announced Wednesday that U.S. Soccer will honor O’Hara in a retirement ceremony at halftime of the USWNT’s match against Iceland on Oct. 27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The federation also said plans are underway to honor the career of soccer icon Alex Morgan, who honored O’Hara in a retirement ceremony at halftime of the USWNT’s match against Iceland on Oct. 27 in Nashville, Tennessee. retired this monthAt a USWNT match in early 2025.
What could be next for O’Hara after retirement?
O’Hara’s career has been on a slow slide since the 2023 World Cup. When she made the roster, her feelings on the decision were clear after suffering a knee injury, but it has been a struggle for her to play any kind of consistent minutes for Gotham FC over the past two seasons.
Ultimately, while O’Hara being placed in SEI means she may have already spent her final moments on the field in a Gotham kit and may not realize it, her long-term health is far more important. She has spoken openly about how this injury has affected not only her playing career, but her everyday life as well.
“I’m trying to stay optimistic about the quality of life I want,” O’Hara said. said in an interview earlier this year Sam Mewis of “The Woman’s Game” podcast. “I want to be able to walk to the grocery store and not be in too much pain.”
O’Hara has been working in the media sphere for some time now, having appeared behind the desk for analysis with CBS, including during the USWNT’s Gold Cup run earlier this year. She’s also been podcasting and producing other content for several years with Just Women’s Sports, which just launched a new show “Fast Friends” co-hosted by Lisa Leslie last week. — Meg Linehan, Senior Women’s Soccer Writer
Required Reading
(Photo: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)