For Michelle Alozie, being a footballer extends beyond the hours she spends on the pitch. Her career plays an intentional role in shaping her daily routine and lifestyle, with taking care of her body remaining a priority even during the off-season. Staying active, maintaining her fitness and developing habits that support her physical wellbeing are an active part of her everyday life. 

Six years into her career, wellness has naturally become a part of her routine, from red light therapy to the habits she has developed to keep her body active. Ice baths, however, is one thing you’ll never catch her doing. Early in her career, while balancing football with her work as a research technician, she experienced what it felt like for something she loved to become tedious. She, however, holds on to the gratitude that comes with being able to play football professionally, a sport that still brings out the same childlike excitement that drew her to it.

Self-expression is just as important to her identity. Being athletic is not an opposition to her femininity, but a natural combination that coexists. Her individuality remains a deep part of her style, on and off the pitch whether through her hair, nails or jewellery. Even within the uniformity of a football jersey, these details give her a way to make it feel more like her while maintaining practicality and ease in her style. She has also been exploring African designers and finding ways to bring modernity into her wardrobe, with comfort and confidence being her style priorities.

This interview has been edited for clarity. 

What does protecting your body actually look like day to day, especially when you’re also just trying to live a normal life in your 20s?

I feel like everything I do, like I’m a very adventurous person. I love to do things, whether that be in-season or post-season, like in off-season, but obviously knowing the career that I have, I know that my body is my work and I have to make sure that I treat it like so. So, I love doing so many different recovery modalities. I love cryo, I love saunas, I love red light therapy. I just love being active, even if it’s not actively doing football. I love to stay active and just make sure my body’s recharged, hydrated. I always have electrolyte on me at all times. I feel like even though I like to be adventurous and do different things, I’m constantly thinking, “Oh, let me make sure my body is good for football.”

Where’s the line between discipline and burnout for you and how do you know when you’ve crossed it?

I feel like it’s a very thin line, honestly.  I had got a taste of burnout early, pretty early in my career when I was kind of juggling football and my work as a research technician. The burnout happens when what I’m doing becomes less fun and enjoyable and it does become work and it becomes tedious and I almost forget why I enjoy doing what I’m doing so much. In football, it’s easy for it to get burned out because you have to do so many things, obviously juggling not only club football, but national team as well.  If you lose sight of why you’re doing it and what made you so passionate about football and just how grateful and blessed you can be for playing football, you can lose sight of that and then it becomes a burnout and you’re so tired and everything just seems like a hassle or work.  When that happened a couple years ago, I realised like I’m so blessed to be in the position I am in and I love playing football and it just brings out a childlike joy in me. So I think that that’s kind of the thin line between just working really hard and possibly burning yourself out.

Wellness is having a real moment right now. Does that change how you think about your own routine, or does it feel unrelated to what you actually do?

I feel like that’s already what I do. I’ve been pro now for six years, which isn’t that long, but it seems like forever to me. I feel like I’ve kind of finally figured out my routine that works best for me, but also is sustainable. I think sometimes when you’re being an athlete, it might be hard to sustain a healthier lifestyle. You think you can only do it in season, but I feel like as years go on, our off season becomes shorter and shorter and so we don’t really have time to cheat or be unhealthy. So, over the years, making a sustainable, healthy lifestyle has really been important.

What’s one exercise or habit you’d defend to the death, and one you think is completely overrated?

I think ice baths are super overrated. You will never catch me in an ice bath. I don’t care what we’re doing, I will not do an ice bath. I feel like there’s other ways to break down the lactic acid in your legs.  Surely, not being freezing cold for seven minutes is something I have to do. Something that I am obsessed with is red light therapy. I feel like that one’s just really good. It gets your deep muscles warmed up. I literally do that every morning. I always try to get red light before everything I do.

How do you hold being sporty and girlie at the same time? Does that feel like a balance to you, or does it just come naturally?

I feel like being sporty and girly is natural to me. I feel like that’s such an interesting juxtaposition almost because I feel like you think that if you’re sporty, you can’t be girly. It’s like, you’re either into sports or you’re like a girly girl. I feel like there’s so many crossovers of both of them that aren’t really recognised, but I think it’s so fun. I always have my nails. I always have really long hair. I love having all my jewellery on all the time. It’s just a part of me and it’s allowed me to have some self expression as well.

Walk me through your match day look, what do you actually notice about the jerseys you wear? 

I feel like we actually just got so much Nike gear. I feel like obviously we always have to be in uniform, but I love just like trying to make myself a little bit different and accessorising a little bit differently, whether that be with some chains, whether it be for rings, literally just for a walk in, I don’t care. Or whether it be like a really cool shoe that I just got or just brought. I feel like just little things that I tried to just accessorise with for our match day is like how I like to express myself when we have to be in uniform.

How do you approach your hair styling during football seasons? 

I love doing different hairstyles. I think that my go-to is probably a French braid, knotless French braids, or French curl braids. Those are probably my favourite. I feel like it’s fun to just do different things and experiment with your hairstyles. Right now, I have like a half weave in with some knotless braids and this is so fun and easy, especially for WAFCON. It’s just so hot and I’m not going to have time to redo my hair or anything like that. But then also just being natural is so fun too and nice and easy and a little bit different, but I definitely like to switch it up.

What’s your off pitch style like, what are your go to choices for every day?

I feel like my off-pitch style changes like every year, I think. This is probably the girliest I’ve ever been off-pitch. I wear a lot of heels and a lot of skirts. I never thought I’d wear a skirt ever in my life. I used to be solely super baggy jeans and super baggy shorts, but I’ve been kind of changing a little bit more into skirts and playing a lot with Nigerian or African in general designers and just kind of creating some modernity like with that has been really fun.

What’s a style choice you get the most comments about, good or bad?

I feel like whenever I wear heels with something more like tomboy. I usually wear heels with really big shorts. I usually do like knee-high boots with shorts and stuff.  I feel like I probably get the most comments whenever I wear something like that. I feel like a little bit of both. Like either you see it, you see the vibe or you don’t. As long as I’m feeling comfortable and confident, then I’m happy.