Sheffield United Women’s player Kasia Lipka learning the business of football

In a world where everyone is having to adapt to a new normal, footballers are in a unique situation.

A lot of teams are returning to training with the Premier League given the green light to restart, but women’s football has been cancelled until next season.

Kasia Lipka, a midfielder for Sheffield United women’s team, has been planning for a future after football by gaining a degree in economics.

The midfielder spent 10 years with the Blades during her youth career before moving onto Doncaster Rovers Belles in 2009 where she made 53 appearances. The 27-year old spent a year at Sunderland after leaving the Belles between 2017/18 before re-signing for the Blades in 2019 after a year out through injury.

Having been involved with football for over a decade, a year out with injury was a shock to the system for Lipka, which conversely means lockdown has been quite familiar.

Not that she has not found it tough like everyone else.

The combative midfielder is comfortable being back in the Steel City and was gutted to hear the news of the Women’s Championship – in which United’s Women’s team sat second – being cancelled.

“I’ve taken the opportunity to spend time doing things that I often don’t get time to do,” said Sheffield-born Lipka.

“After finishing playing football I want to pursue a career using my degree in economics, so I’ve been able to make some positive steps in developing my skills in this area.

“When football comes to a complete stop it makes you realise how much it impacts on all aspects of your life. I would say for most players football isn’t just a game or a job, it’s a way of life.

“Every so often I have a difficult day where I start to overthink things and feel negative about football. I think this comes from having lots of time to think about football, so you get carried away thinking about a bad game or a weaknesses and yo’re not able to address it.”

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