Down footballer Clara Fitzpatrick has been through more in seven years than many people do in a lifetime, but she has no regrets.
The Bryansford club player is resilience personified, but in true Fitzpatrick style, she is not one for any fanfare or lavish praise.
Fitzpatrick was forced to contend with three serious anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, as well as visa issues amidst the global Covid-19 pandemic in 2021 to finally find her nirvana 10,000 miles across the other side of the world in Australia.
The former Saint Kilda full-back is now settled at her new AFLW club, the Gold Coast Suns, and has even taken to social surfing when she is not working as a qualified physiotherapist alongside her footballing commitments.
“My journey has been an eventful one to say the least, it hasn’t been straightforward, but I have learned to take things day by day and see where it takes me,’ Fitzpatrick told the Irish News.
“If I had to give my younger self some advice, I would say ‘Everything happens for a reason and although there are obstacles ahead, keep your head down, see the good in every situation, and control the controllables.’”
Fitzpatrick (33) first picked up a Sherrin after travelling to Melbourne on holiday in 2016, having very little knowledge of Australian rules football, but she proved to be a quick learner.
In 2020, she played five AFLW matches for Saint Kilda at elite level and impressed her coaches to the extent that she won the club’s coaches’ award in her inaugural season.
A year later, Fitzpatrick returned to Ireland after three and-a-half years in Melbourne, due to Australia’s strict immigration rules which denied her the opportunity to work as a qualified physiotherapist to support herself.
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As one door temporarily closed, another opened as Fitzpatrick returned to Down when she made the step up to the Down senior team under the tutelage of Caoibhe Sloan and Peter Lynch.
An agonising two-point defeat to Meath put an end to Down’s 2020 season, but with unfinished business back in Australia, Fitzpatrick was determined to return for a second coming as an AFLW player for Saint Kilda.
In 2021, her plans were thrown into disarray when she broke down with a third ACL injury whilst playing in the GAA, and visa issues put an end to her hopes of returning to Saint Kilda.
But after two missed AFLW seasons, the key defender bounced back with both her courage and self-belief still intact.
“I was in rehab for a third ACL injury in 2021, so Saint Kilda put me on their inactive list, but when I recovered, I really enjoyed playing for them last year.
“I owe the club a lot for what everything they did for me and the opportunity they gave me to play in AFLW.”
Fast forward to 2023 and Fitzpatrick made the decision to join the Gold Coast Suns where she is teammates with Niamh McLaughlin, the former Donegal ladies’ skipper, and 2022 LGFA Senior Player of the Year and an Allstar winner, as well as Tyrone-born Cara McCrossan.
And with her visa and injury issues finally behind her, Fitzpatrick is now making a fresh start in sunny Queensland, where even winters can feel like summers back home in Ireland.
“I am delighted to have moved to the Gold Coast, it’s definitely the place to be,” Fitzpatrick said.
“I have breathed a sigh of relief that my visa and injury problems are in the past, but I have always believed that nothing worthwhile comes easy.
“I am loving life here, the weather is amazing, and having both Niamh and Cara with me is like having a part of home here.
“Niamh only had a short pre-season after the GAA season finished but she has slotted in really well.
“We all want to improve both individually and collectively to achieve our ultimate goal this year, which is to play finals, we have that belief in us that we can do it.”
Fitzpatrick has penned a two-year contract with the Suns and in the foreseeable future has no plans to play Gaelic football for the Mourne County in the AFL off-season.
“I will be home for five-six weeks for Christmas and then I am returning for a full AFLW pre-season,” Fitzpatrick confirmed.
“At the age of 33 I want to keep things simple and play one sport.
“I still follow Down and when we won the junior All-Ireland this year, I exchanged message and Face-Timed with some of the girls.
“I hope I can play for my county again in the future, but it won’t be this year.”
In the meantime, Fitzpatrick who is juggling her football and physiotherapy career, doesn’t see herself changing the habits of a lifetime.
“I don’t know how to relax,” she said.
“I hate sitting around, especially when the weather is nice, I want to be outside the house doing something.”
