TYMRAK PUMPED ABOUT RESTART
Erika Tymrak is ready to fall back in love with soccer in Orlando.
It’s been a year since the midfielder announced her retirement from the sport. At the time, Tymrak couldn’t see herself ever returning to the pitch. But during the past year, she began to feel her time wasn’t finished.
When she signed with the Pride for the 2021 season, Tymrak saw an opportunity for a fresh start.
In the early weeks of preseason, the midfielder said she’s excited to get up for training, something she hadn’t felt in years.
“I’m just pumped to play again,” Tymrak said. “I have this competitive edge. I’m super hungry right now. I just I want to play, I want to touch the ball again. And to be honest, I want to win another championship and I think that this team can absolutely do that.”
It took two full seasons for Tymrak to realize she needed a break.
She felt stagnant. The midfielder had played for the same team for seven seasons since being drafted by FC Kansas City in 2013. Although she relocated from Kansas City to Utah following the transition of the club, Tymrak felt the environment remained the same.
At first, Tymrak tried to ignore it. But those final two years in
Utah were draining, and she felt her mental health take the toll.
“It’s always a love-hate relationship and there comes a point where sometimes the hate can outweigh the love,” Tymrak said. “I think that’s normal, but I also think that it is important to look at yourself in the mirror and be like, ‘Am I truly happy doing this right now?’ And I knew that I wasn’t.”
Finally, Tymrak made herself a promise — finish the 2019 season, then take a step back from soccer. After retirement, Tymrak unplugged from every part of her life tangled up in soccer. She moved to California and took up new positive outlets — surfing, rollerblading by the pier. She didn’t watch matches and avoided social media.
“It was the perfect environment for me to just kind of take a step out of everything, refocus, allow myself to just be happy again,” Tymrak said.
During that year, Tymrak’s top priority was solidifying her identity outside of soccer.
Coach Marc Skinner now believes her personal growth will only help the Pride.
Skinner went through a similar experience when his partner, former England women’s national-team player Laura Bassett, struggled with the decision of whether to retire after the birth their daughter, Saede.
“I understand the torment that you feel if you’re still in physical condition where you can be really effective in the game,” Skinner said. “I think it never sat right with [Tymrak]. The hunger and the drive to come back into the game was always there.”
Now Skinner says Tymrak is in the proper mental place to challenge herself and her team. Physically, Tymrak isn’t entirely game ready. The midfielder says she needs to put on muscle to return to the physical style of the NWSL after nearly a year without lifting weights or conditioning for the sport. Skinner has emphasized patience throughout this process, but the midfielder feels her body is quickly adapting back into the lifestyle of a professional athlete.
“To be honest, I was a little worried,” Tymrak said. “My whole life, I just got used to pushing my body and then I took a year off. You obviously question, ‘Does my body want to go back to doing that?’ ... But after the first few weeks, I know this is something I can definitely do.”
For Tymrak, the key to returning from retirement came down to finding the proper team environment. Tymrak’s retirement came nearly eight months before reports of racism and discrimination by owner Dell Loy Hansen, forcing his eventual departure from the Utah Royals.
Although she says those behind-thescenes challenges affected the entire team, Tymrak’s frustrations with the environment were more personal. She wasn’t getting playing time and felt the team was “a mismatch” for her playing style.
Tymrak believes Orlando will provide a better match.
“It’s one of those things that I necessarily can’t put into words but I knew that I wanted to be in Orlando,” Tymrak said.
For the Pride, Tymrak sees herself as a glue player, a bridge between rookies and veterans with a heightened level of experience after her seven years in the NWSL.
But fitting into the Pride goes beyond tactics. When she first spoke to Skinner, Tymrak told him she needed a coach to believe in her. Skinner said he can provide that support — not just to facilitate her return from retirement, but to help Tymrak grow into a stronger player.
“We will work with her in order to not create the old Erika, but create a new version of Erika,” Skinner said. “She knows who she is . ... We’re here to create a new version of her that she’s happy with, so that she can extend that happiness onto the field.”