From Texas to Athlone Town, it's been a year of change for Hannah Waesch, but the midfielder says she's feeling right at home ahead of the midlanders' Champions League Round 2 qualifier semi-final against Breidablik on Wednesday (12pm kick-off).
Born in The Colony, a suburb of Dallas, Waesch has been a massive hit since arriving in Athlone back in March.
She honed her skills at the University of Texas, featuring in the 2023 documentary Raising Her Game which tracked the fortunes of the college side under coach Ange Kelly, a former Canada international.
To watch Waesch so impressively marshall midfield this season, it seems remarkable that no other club showed genuine interest in acquiring her services after she graduated last December. Their loss has been Athlone's gain.
Waesch bossed the engine room in the Round 1 qualifier wins against Cardiff City (4-0) and Agram (3-0). Now she's eyeing another sesimic week in the Netherlands, where this mini-tournment is based.
"Truth be told, I've not been in an environment where a community kind of rallies around a team, let alone a women’s soccer team before," said Waesch.
"This is completely foreign to me. It’s been an absolute rollercoaster of emotion for me. I’ve got people who don’t even know me giving me hugs, embracing me, giving me part of their town. I just think that’s so cool because you really don’t get that in many places.
"I lived in the same small town for my whole life (The Colony). My dad grew up there and he never left. You recognise how important roots are, just any sense of community where you know people have known you for your whole life and then extending that arm out to new people and welcoming them in. That part is not foreign to me.
"If I’m having an off game… when you know that people are showing up to support you, even when you’re down, you know that you have to work hard. It’s like a blue-collar mentality. They’re making the time for you, the least you can do is work hard for them.
"I think that the town is so deeply embedded within this club that you can't separate the two mentalities."
Athlone went top of the SSE Airtricity Women's Premier Division last Saturday thanks to an excellent 2-1 victory against Shelbourne. They had a recovery session on Sunday morning and then flew out to the Netherlands yesterday.
Colin Fortune's charges are facing a daunting challenge. Breidablik are top of their domestic league in Iceland with 13 wins and a draw from 15 games. They've scored 61 goals and conceded just 11.
If Athlone do get through this one, they'll face either Red Star Belgrade or FC Twente in Saturday evening's Round 2 final. Twente made it to the Champions League group stages last year and have ex-Arsenal, Manchester City and Wolfsburg midfielder Jill Roord in the ranks.
The climb gets steeper the further you go, but Waesch is upbeat, insisting Athlone are ready to fully embrace the challenge.
"Breidablik are a great side, they wouldn’t be where they are without being very talented. But since we’ve played those two games (against Cardiff City and Agram) we’ve had other road tests that have helped us prepare for this game.
"You always hear, at least for me as a football fan, about the institution of the Champions League. Being here and experiencing it, the championship calibre level of this team and how professional each and every one of us are… I could never have dreamed of being in this situation."
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