by Nikita Parris “hates” stretching so was surprised to enjoy yoga and the Manchester United winger now hopes the benefits will lead to an England withdrawal.
The 29-year-old enjoyed a run of eight goals in seven games between October and November and, speaking exclusively to Telegraph Sport, says practicing yoga has helped her find a new life on the pitch.
“I always knew I had this form, but I came to a new club with a different way of playing and I had to get used to them and they had to get used to me,” says Parris, who joined Manchester United from Arsenal. in August 2022. “Now I have balance in my life. When you’re younger, you’re always hungry and you really forget about the other side: spending time with family and friends and trying new things. For me, it was trying yoga. It has been enormously important.
“I started it when they told me I wasn’t going to the World Cup. At Manchester United we have a new yoga teacher who is brilliant and helps me focus on the things I can control. If anyone knows me, I hate stretching, I used to say they were pointless. But for me yoga is not just about stretching, it’s about clearing the mind.
“It’s about being able to empty out all the things that I’m thinking too much about and the things that I couldn’t control. That mindfulness really allows me to let go of the things I can’t control. I couldn’t do that when I had so many things on my mind that I wanted to say or do. “It would all be too much.”
A month after joining Manchester United, Parris scored in Austria to earn a 2-0 victory that secured England’s place in the 2023 World Cup, but soon found himself out of Sarina Wiegman’s plans for the team she He flew to Australia. She now hopes her club form can lead to her representing the Lionesses again.
“I’m not just fighting for a place at Manchester United, I’m fighting for a place to get back into the England set-up,” he adds. “For me, that’s still on the agenda. I’m not going to give it up.
“I have confidence in myself, I have confidence in my ability. Obviously in the England team now there is a lot of talent, a lot of depth, and that’s who you compete with and I’m happy to compete.”
“It was hard not to be chosen for the World Cup”
Parris helped United reach the Women’s FA Cup final at Wembley and finish second in the Women’s Super League last season, but it wasn’t enough for a place in the World Cup squad, which she says made that last summer was “very difficult.
“For me it was very hard, going from that November [2022] camp and then not be chosen for any of the pre-World Cup camps,” he says. “I felt like my performances were very good, so for me it was tough, but sometimes these moments happen and it has to be about ‘what can I do to recover, to get better?’ and ‘what can I do to make it harder to not get picked?’, and that’s what I focused on all summer.”
Parris helped England win Euro 2022 and was a regular starter on the Lionesses team that reached the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup. That year, she was considered one of the best players in the WSL (she was named Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers’ Association), but feels he has matured since then.
“I am a more experienced player. “I understand what my strengths are and what my weaknesses are, and what positions I want to find myself in most of the time, to get the most out of my talent,” says Parris. “That’s what I’ve been able to develop here at Manchester United: occupy positions where I’m most effective.”
Parris attributes much of that to the influence of Marc Skinner, his head coach at Manchester United. Of working with him, she says: “I’ve found it very liberating. It is not so rigid in terms of playing patterns or the extremes being so open. He always talks about me as an individual who takes the ball and shows my talents, being ruthless in both areas. He has really challenged me.
“Obviously there have been times when he hasn’t played with me and I’ve really had to fight and understand what he wants and whether I liked it or not, it’s helped me. He has improved my way of thinking. When things aren’t going well, sometimes you can just throw in the towel, give up or blame others and not really look at what you can do as an individual, and I have found the ability to be able to bounce back. or say ‘what can I do to improve?’, and try to do it every day in training and stay focused.”
‘Being ringside for my sister’s fights is incredible’
That focus on training continues for Parris during the current winter break, as he decided to work with a running coach and a technical coach as he returns home to Liverpool. Of course, she’s also spent time with her family, including her sister and two-time world heavyweight champion boxer, Natasha Jonas. Parris sometimes finds it difficult to watch Jonas’s fights up close, but she can’t contain her pride when he talks about her successes.
“I go to watch her fights in the ring every time we don’t have games or training on the weekends and she has done very well in the last two years, double world champion. Being in the front row is absolutely amazing, but stressful,” says Parris. “You can see everything, the saliva coming out of the mouth, the blood. You start to see the dangers of the sport instead of its excitement. Sometimes it’s exciting and fun, but sometimes, in big fights, you look through your fingers and nothing else!
Jonas will defend her IBF world title against American Mikaela Mayer in Liverpool on January 20, but Parris will have to be content with watching from afar as she will be preparing to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge with Manchester United in a heavyweight clash of the WSL the next day.
