On this week’s edition of the Health and Performance Academy blog we welcome Maeve Óg O’Leary. Maeve Óg has had an insane sporting journey, representing both her province and country, which has come with many highs and lows along the way. Some of those lows have come in the form of major injuries, which has left her sidelined for extended periods of time. In this blog Maeve Óg shares with us her journey through sport, her injuries, the psychological toll it has taken, and her thoughts on the women in sport initiative.
Tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Maeve Óg O’Leary, I am 24 years old from Tipperary, living in Dublin. I play rugby and work in a Public Relations agency where I am on the Sports Sponsorship team. I studied Communications in DCU and went on to do my Masters in Public Relations and Strategic Communications. I grew up playing Camogie from the age of 4 and played with some county underage sides through the years. I started playing rugby when I was 15, becoming involved with my province’s underage sides from the ages of 16 to 18. I moved to Dublin at age 18 for college and began playing with my club, Blackrock. I received my first cap for Munster in Summer of 2021 and received my first cap for Ireland in November of 2021.
Tell us a bit about your journey in sport?
Sport played quite a big role in my life growing up. Even though I wasn’t massively keen on the pitch in my younger years, my 4 siblings were all sport mad, so it was always around. My brother is a professional rugby player and signed his first pro contract when I was just 12 so I always looked up to him and wanted to follow in his footsteps.
I became involved in my first underage representative side when I was 13 with Tipperary Camogie and this was probably my first taste of a step up in standard. I enjoyed parts of it but also found bits challenging. I enjoyed the step up in training and being able to see how far I could push myself, but I found it hard going into a dressing room of news girls I wasn’t familiar with. As time went on this got easier and the on pitch got more challenging. I was involved in the county set-up for about 4 to 5 years before I had to decide between representative camogie or representative rugby at the age of 17/18.
I decided to go down the rugby route as I had only started when I was 15 and found that I was making good progress. From the age of 16 I also represented Ireland playing softball which offered me some amazing opportunities and taught me lots, I also got to travel some of the world!
Progressing slowly but surely through the ranks in rugby and changing position at the age of 19, I found myself in a Munster and Ireland shirt when I was 21. It was such an incredible experience and getting to pull on these jerseys for the first time was a dream. In 2022 I signed a contract with the Ireland team to become a professional rugby player. After receiving 11 caps for Munster and 5 with Ireland over the couple of years, I then picked up some bad knee injuries in September 2023. My contract finished up in July of this year and 2 surgeries later I am still rehabbing these injuries.
Throughout my years growing up, sport has provided me with so much more than the on-pitch stuff. It has given me a huge sense of identity, confidence, it has taught me several skills that have contributed to my life, through school, college and through work now. I have had some fantastic experiences through sport and rugby and made some friends for life.
It has also provided me with some of the biggest challenges I have had to face and thrown lots of different hurdles my way, but through this I have gained a lot of resilience.
What Injuries have you had and how have they impacted you?
Growing up I was very lucky with injuries with the odd ankle sprain here and there and couple of stitches in my forehead and knee.
My first major injury was in the Summer of 2022. I got a grade 3C tear in my hamstring just 3 days before flying to Japan on a Summer tour. This was a tough one as it was the first ever summer tour for the squad and a good opportunity for me as a young player. It was a 12-week rehab block for this injury, so I took a week off and then got into the rehab. This round of rehab went well. I had nice and steady progression throughout with no setbacks. I definitely felt stronger coming back and was back on the pitch within 14 weeks. As my first ‘longer-term’ injury, it was probably the best-case scenario experience.
Throughout the next two years I had a couple of knocks here and there, rehabbing my shoulder for a period of time as well as a small stress fracture in my ankle. I missed very little game time through these injuries and just focused on building strength around these areas.
When I was finally injury free – I played a good inter-provincial series with Munster in the Summer of 2023 which led to my selection for WXV3 in Dubai with the Ireland squad. I also got to face a Barbarians team in Thomond Park that September – finishing this match I thought I was injury-free and I was ready to get training started for Dubai.
Within about an hour of the Barbarians game my knee became very tight – I just put it down to playing a game and that general soreness that went with it as I had had no impacts in the game to cause an injury. As I progressed through camp the next week my quad, glute and calf on my left leg were becoming progressively tight making my knee very sore. Putting it down to an increased training load, I stayed on top of my rehab and recovery.
I landed in Dubai with the hope that my knee pain would go eventually but as the time and training continued, so did my knee pain. I was able to just about manage training through consistent icing, compression, time off feet and painkillers. As the physios and I determined there was nothing structurally wrong with the knee through testing and my ability to move, I made a decision to continue to push through the pain and give this tournament my best shot. I did just that and was able to receive one cap for my country. I didn’t get selected for the other two games, but I was able to perform to a good level at training and just manage the pain around this. This injury was also effecting my gym programmes so by the time I returned home to Ireland, we were ready to get to the bottom of it.
Once arriving home and receiving a scan in November, it showed I had some cartilage breakdown in my knee with a good area of bone bruising behind this. By no means anything serious as all of my ligaments were intact but my pain was intense and my knee cap was tracking through the grove of missing cartilage. This meant bending my leg caused quite a bit of soreness, I couldn’t squat, lunge and knee extension was very sore. I took a number of weeks off feet to allow the irritation and swelling to come down. I also received two PRP (platelet rich plasma) injections which promote healing.
I made a short return to the pitch across 3 games in February/March still managing my knee with ice, painkillers, a modified gym programme and time off feet in-between training. Unfortunately I went on to injure my right knee in my third game back in the last minute of a club game. I received a scan soon after this which showed I had an impact fracture in my right tibia as well as some activity in my knee which could have been a partial sublux of the knee, there was also some cartilage break down here.
When this happened, it also gave my left knee a good opportunity for more rest. As I was now ruled out of any upcoming competitions, I decided to meet a surgeon to chat about my left knee. The meeting was very insightful in that I learned my kneecaps sit higher up on my knees than the average person, so over the last number of years of high training load, I had really worn down the cartilage in my knee. The verdict was that while I could not undo the damage done to my knee, a small surgery may relieve the pain. We decided to go ahead with a surgery in May of 2024. This gave my right knee injury some time to heal and build strength before going into surgery for my left.
In May I had an arthroscopy and a debridement, which is basically a clean-up of the inside of the knee to clear out any floating cartilage and shave down any flaps that may be causing irritation. The recovery time is 2-3 months for this.
My right tibia fracture healed well but I was still having a lot of trouble with my kneecap so after some time we decided to go in with 2 PRP in this knee. I had a large build-up of fluid constantly in this knee, so I had to have it drained a few times. After the two PRP’s and a steroid we still decided to opt for the arthroscopy and debridement on my right knee too as I wasn’t making progress. This surgery went ahead in September of 2024.
I am now into week 6 of post-op and my rehab is going well across both knees. I hope to be back running in December and hope for a smooth return to pitch. My physios have been incredible through this experience in ensuring I have had a full understanding of my injuries, and they allowed me to play a role a huge role in deciding what was right for my knee through the full process, which I was very lucky for!
How has Injury impacted you psychologically?
The psychological side of injury was something that was relatively unknown to me until the age of 22. Having been lucky until that stage in my career it wasn’t something I was anyway educated in or had experienced.
Prior to my hamstring tear in 2022, I found camp very mentally tough that week. My sleep hadn’t been great leading up to that injury and I was feeling down and lacking confidence as I headed into that pitch session. When I picked up that injury, I felt that my mental health had certainly played a factor in this. While it was incredibly tough to navigate that, it was a huge learning for me that I had some work to do around my mental performance.
I did some work around my mental performance following this period and leading into the next year alongside my dad who has a good background in sports psychology and my brother who is a rugby player also. This was very useful as a player, and I only wish I had tapped into it sooner.
As my knee injuries came to be an issue in 2023, there was a mental battle lying ahead that was much bigger than I would have ever thought. I am incredibly lucky to have such supportive teammates and family around me but the reality with injury is it can be very isolating.
Facing into something quite long-term with no exact end date has been tough. At this time rugby took over my whole head and I was worried about my ability to return to the pitch, my contract, watching other players progress as I sat unable to train and watching the team I was a part of progress and grow which I couldn’t be a part of.
While I wasn’t aware of how much of an impact it was having on me, I kept pushing through my rehab and tapping into all other areas that I still could when I was injured like analysis and gym work to keep as relevant and up to date as possible so I was in a good position when I did return to pitch. I still had my career outside which was so important for me, it gave me a real sense of normality and perspective too.
I ended up in quite an isolated place in my head and struggled for a couple of months trying to navigate this. I had really burnt myself out without knowing at the time and was operating at a level far from optimal.
I was lucky to be able to work with a sport psychologist and a mindset coach who were extremely important. With this and the support of my physios, it allowed me to understand what I was feeling and going through a lot better.
My contract finished up in July and a long road of rehab still lies ahead. I am still navigating the mental side of it. but I have learnt a lot as I have went through this process and am still learning.
The mental side of an injury is not always spoken about when in fact it can be just as important as the physical rehab you are doing. This is something I have really had to navigate and learn about. It certainly helps you to build a lot of resilience.
What is advice you would give to someone who is currently sidelined through injury?
Some advice I would give to someone going through injury is to allow yourself to really understand the injury you have, take the time to sit down with the doctor or physios and make a clear plan and timeline on how you will return to your sport. Talk to others who may have had some similar injuries and gain as much insight you can for yourself.
Chatting to those around you and really addressing how your head is feeling in the process of injury rehab is so important. It is easier said than done but do not feel alone, use your team mates, family and friends to lean on when you are feeling lost or low.
Having a good balance while being injured is something I have really had to learn also. As you cannot do that one thing you love due to injury, it is important that you tap into other parts of your life. Whether that is your job, spending time with families or friends, another hobby you can do, booking a trip away - finding something that gives you enjoyment is incredibly important.
Be kind to yourself. Sometimes playing sport can have us wired to always push and to keep pushing. It is important to listen to your body and listen to what it needs. If you need to allow for rest and recovery rather than continuously pushing through pain, it can often have more of a reward.
What does the Women in Sport initiative mean to you?
The Women in Sport initiative across Ireland and the world means a huge amount to me and every female athlete. Seeing how much it has grown from being a young girl to now has been class, but there is still so much more room for growth here.
Knowing that I can, and we all can play a role to keep this initiative moving along is powerful.
Whether you are a player or finished playing and giving back to sport in a different way, it is so key to be a role model and positive influence on the young girls coming up the ranks playing sport.
At the end of school there is such a high drop off rate of teenage girls from sport as they transition into college. Highlighting the positive effect sport can have on your life is so important here. From the things as simple as enjoyment, making friends and feeling a sense of belonging - playing sport and exercising/moving your body at any level is a necessity I would say. I think it is incredibly important to highlight some of the challenges/disparities that come with being a female in sport too and not being naive to this either - it is not always easy!
As women we can continue to push the boundaries and raise the standards in sport across the world, we can tune in and attend women’s sport events and do our bit to contribute to this rapidly growing movement.
I think women’s sport is in one of the most exciting places it has ever been and to be able to play a small role in this is an absolute honour.
What advice would you give to your younger self, knowing what you do now?
This can be a tough one as I feel I am still learning a hell of a lot and navigating my way through the world of elite sport but there are certainly a few learnings I have taken.
I think understanding that you really are never alone is huge. Not getting selected, picking up injuries and the challenges that come with sport can be very isolating, even growing up playing a sport that not a lot of girls partake in can cause this. I think speaking to others and understanding that what you are going through, some one else has gone through it before you is huge. I would tell all young women in sport to hang in there and chat to those around you - you are so much stronger than you think and you can get through so much more that you think.
The resilience you will build through sport will prepare you for so many other obstacles in your life. You will meet an amazing community of women and friends who are just like you. There is a place in sport for everyone.
Sport doesn’t define you. This was something that really affected me as my contract finished up. I left feeling as though I had lost my sense of identity. While sport can be so wonderful and offer so much in life, it can be really tough if its not going well. Having other elements in your life that offer you a sense of purpose is so important.
Enjoyment! I know it is always the most cliche answer but I have learned it is so important to enjoy your sport. I have been very tough on myself over the years and put a lot of pressure on myself in big moments, but these moments can be rare and enjoying them is so important. You will always play your best too when you are enjoying it!
Conclusion
A big thank you to Maeve Óg for taking the time to share some of the details of her journey through elite sport and injury with us. No doubt she will come back even stronger from this current setback!
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