Like many other football competitions, the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand is all about the round leather game, but some of the stars on show at the Mundial are championing other causes with the hopes of making life better for themselves and others.
One of these stars is Nigeria defender Michelle Alozie, whose tremendous efforts towards cancer research have not gone unnoticed.
The 26-year-old Houston Dash star lives an already strenuous and demanding lifestyle as a professional athlete. However, her passion for helping others through conducting countless medical research studies while taking note of constant changes in the medical environment is a highly commendable act.
Adding to her already congested schedule, Alozie works part-time at the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston as a research technician studying acute leukemia and cancer.
“I’ll probably be done with training around 1pm,” the Nigerian said while speaking with FIFA. “I’ll head straight to the children’s hospital, get there around 1.30pm, probably have our team meetings, and then just go about my day until about 5pm.”
“It’s crazy to think about,” she further explained. “It’s not necessarily a field that I thought I was going to find myself in but it is so amazing to be able to have an impact on children’s lives. Childhood cancer isn’t something that’s researched that much. Being able to be a part of that and be a part of that research is just such a blessing.
The pacey fullback constantly reiterated her love and passion for both football and medicine, which has kept her grounded and focused on her objectives as she continued to touch on her impressive “double life”.
“I have a passion for helping people. Thankfully biology was something that I was really good at in school and so medicine just seemed like the correct option there. Again, it’s just amazing to meet these young kids that I’m helping find a cure for their cancer. It means everything to me.”
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Alozie, whose path to stardom was not straight forward after she wasn’t selected in the 2019 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) College draft, explained that although she was birthed to play football, her love for medicine grew exponentially as she aged.
“I have been playing soccer since I was four or something like that and, being Nigerian, soccer, or football, is really just in our blood,” she said with a smile. “But I just have this fascination with medicine and I know it’s a career path that I would love to be in when I can’t run on the field anymore.”
“I think sometimes I might feel like I’m not doing enough for either soccer or in my research lab,” she revealed, “but I think I’m overall just really grateful.
“I know that it’s two of my passions and what makes it really worthwhile is that I just love doing both of them. So being able to do them simultaneously, thankfully with both of my jobs, it’s amazing and really just a blessing to be able to live my passion and my childhood dream, the Super Falcons No. 22 added.
Despite coming across many obstacles, Alozie explained she always tries to remind herself of the reason why she delved into medicine in the first place, and she also discussed her strong belief in herself with the aim of not disappointing her coaches or her boss at the Texas Children’s Hospital, Dr. Alex.
“I think at first it was definitely a little bit difficult to balance the two,” she admitted. “But honestly, just growing up being an athlete, we learn to balance pretty young in life. It was kind of easy after a while.”
“In the next few years I’m not really sure – the role isn’t something you’re in for a long time – but I just know that I want to be in medicine and continue that career once I’m done with my soccer career,” the Nigeria International added when asked about a possible point in her life when she has to choose between the two careers.
Nicknamed “Dr. Alozie” by her Super Falcons teammates, the defender, who obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Molecular Biology from Yale University, is often called upon by her peers, who tease her by calling her a doctor, to answer some of their health related questions.
“I feel like any time something happens, if there’s a little injury, if someone gets knocked, if their stomach hurts, they come to me!” she laughed. “I’m like, ‘Guys, I’m not a doctor, I actually don’t know what’s going on internally with you!’”
“I’m definitely going to play soccer until I literally cannot run anymore! I know medical school will always be there and it will definitely be there when my bones are brittle,” she grinned.
“Hopefully in a few years they can actually call me Dr Alozie. But now I just need to be Michelle,” she concluded.
Alozie has been a regular on the Falcons team since she made her debut in a 1-0 loss to Jamaica in a friendly game in 2021. She represented Nigeria at the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, where they finished fourth, and is currently participating in her first World Cup, where she played all 90 minutes against Canada in the nation’s opener last Thursday.
She will be looking forward to guiding her side to a victory over co-hosts Australia when both sides face off in a high-caliber clash at the Brisbane Stadium on Thursday, July 27.
