SYDNEY, Australia, CMC – Ace Trinidad & Tobago goal shooter Samantha Wallace said she was close to giving up on a return to competitive action after being sidelined with a career-threatening knee injury for the past two years.
The 30-year-old was the leading scorer for the New South Wales Swifts with 585 goals – shot at 93 percent accuracy – in the Super Netball League two years ago in Australia before her career came to a screeching halt in the first round of matches the following season.
Wallace later learned she had damaged “everything in the knee,” including her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), medial cruciate ligament (MCL), and meniscus, and the surgeon who performed a corrective operation on her suggested she may never play again.
But she is preparing for the new SNL season, which opens on Friday, March 22, taking her comeback one step at a time and hoping to get past the first match of the season against West Coast Fever on home soil at the Ken Rosewall Arena.
“It’s a bit bitter-sweet and a bit emotional, especially Round 1, and the expectations in my head,” she said in an article on the League’s website.
“Will I be good enough? Will I be the Samantha I used to be? So many fans and young kids are waiting for my return. I’m trying not to put all those expectations on myself.
“[But] I’m finally back on the court. I want to take each day one step at a time and try not to think about the outcome but the process.”
Wallace said she looked set to return to the court last year, but she advised about making such a swift return. She spent an agonizing second year watching from the sidelines as the club reached the finals of the tournament before losing the battle for the title to the Queensland Firebirds.
“I thought I would’ve been back last year, and after my surgery, I was doing well, but then I was told I needed a cleanout,” Wallace said.
“I didn’t understand why because I thought I was recovering well. The swelling was still there, but I was able to squat, and I was walking OK, but after I did my clean out that October or November, I went backward.”
She added: “I felt like giving up. I felt like I couldn’t keep going through this, especially after my first year of rehab and the initial thought of coming back the next year and then having that taken away.
“That was my breaking point; the first year of rehab was fine. I just had to deal with it; that happens. It’s a sport, but in the second year of rehab, I was like, holy moly. I’m ready to quit.”
Wallace said there were times during her rehabilitation that she felt there was little or no progress. Still, she used the time away from the court to reflect on her life and what she wanted to accomplish after playing competitively.
“I wasn’t seeing any progress in the gym. No matter how many leg extensions, presses, and squats I did, there were no results until I got a cortisone injection,” she said. “That’s when my knee started settling, the swelling disappeared, and I began to see muscle build in my leg.
“The injury was bad, but it made me sit for once, reflecting on my life and what I want to do after netball. I love kids. I’m always with someone’s kid after games. I don’t know whose kid it is; I end up with some random baby girl.”
The two years on the sideline meant Wallace missed out on opportunities to represent the Calypso Girls at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, and the Netball World Cup last year in South Africa – but she has no regrets.
“It’s an honor to play for my country, but the pressure on me to help win games, I don’t think I was ready for that,” she said.
“I was in good health and good hands at the Swifts, so initially, when Briony (Akle, Swifts head coach) told me I was not going to play in 2023, I was devastated, and our goal was to get me back for the World Cup. Even though I was missing the SNL, I at least had one goal to try to accomplish that year.”
She said: “I decided to take my time to recover fully and not push myself because, in Tobago, we don’t have insurance. You play for the love of the game and the country.
“If I was to injure myself more by playing in the World Cup, I knew it would be in my hands, so I decided to step out of the World Cup. I knew I wanted to return to the SNL, and that was the sacrifice I made to play in the best League in the world.”
Wallace said she remained active on the sidelines, being the principal cheerleader for the Swifts in the dressing room and on the bench, and she was grateful to Akle for giving her a minor coaching role to help her stay involved.
“I knew these girls had my back even though I wasn’t playing,” she said. “I knew my voice in the team was so important because they looked up to me, and I could still have their back in different ways, even though I wasn’t getting on the court.
“In the change room, praying before they go out on the court, or just hyping them up, trying to twerk or do something silly to make them laugh because I know they feed off my energy.”
She said: “Energy plays a huge part in the Swifts when I’m down. I know they will be down, so as soon as I enter that changing room, it’s positivity and not thinking about myself.
“Briony involved me in the coaching role and took on my feedback… Those things mattered to me and made me feel appreciated and wanted, even though I was injured.”
and then 