Grace Wisnewski has signed on for next season with the Wellington Phoenix months after taking a mental health break in which she pondered whether she'd return to the game at all.
The Phoenix announced today that the midfielder would return for the 2022-23 season making her the eighth foundation player to re-sign with the Wellington club.
Wisnewski played the full 90 minutes of the 11 games she was selected before taking a break in February to return to New Zealand for her mental health. The Phoenix had been based in Australia due to the pandemic.
"If I think back six months ago I was unsure if I was going to play football again," Wisnewski said.
"I would be lying if I told you the last six months have been easy, but it was a no-brainer for me to sign with the Phoenix again.
"[Head coach] Gemma [Lewis] and [assistant] Nat [Lawrence] have been two people that have helped me a lot in the past six months so I'm so excited to work with them again and play for the club again."
It comes after Wisnewski decided to return to training in May after she went viral with a public letter she wrote to mental illness, saying because of it she could no longer be the person she is or enjoy the things she loves.
The letter was shared across social media and praised heavily by both strangers and those closest to her.
Wisnewski told 1News in May through her journey she found an unexpected ally who had walked a similar path in White Ferns star Amelia Kerr, who took time out from cricket last year for her own mental health.
“We spoke for over an hour just chatting about life and how I feel and how she felt … it definitely helped me a lot.
“And it helped me be more open about how I felt, because it felt like it was more normal."
The young Wellington Phoenix player returned to training this week after leaving in February - and finding another sporting star's support in between. (Source: 1News)
Wisnewski made a positive return to the game with the Junior Football Ferns at the Under-20 World Cup in Costa Rica last month, starting in all three games of their campaign and scoring their opening goal of the tournament.
Looking ahead, Wisnewski said on Friday she was "100%" in a better place than she was in the team's debut season last year.
"I’ve worked a lot in the last six months or so on that. Like I said it hasn’t been easy, but it’s definitely been worth it and I’m in a lot better space at the moment.
"In a way I’m kind of glad of what happened last season. It was a big learning curve for me and I’m definitely in a better place now and I’m excited to get to the season."
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