THE ROAD TO RECOVERY HAD PLENTY OF TWISTS AND TURNS FOR KATIE DOAR
For Katie Doar, coming back into the Vantage Black Sticks wasn’t a smooth ride.
After the 2024 FIH Nations Cup in Spain, Doar made the difficult decision to step away from international hockey. After years in the programme, the demands of high-performance sport had started to take their toll.
“I was quite mentally fatigued from probably the last six or seven years of being in the squad,” Doar says.
The disappointment of missing out on the Paris Olympics had been particularly difficult. Combined with an ongoing hip injury, Doar found herself struggling to find the joy in hockey that had always driven her.
“I really struggled to find that joy of playing hockey,” she says. “I really struggled to get out of what felt like quite a bit of a hole.”
So she chose to take a year away from the programme and moved to Belgium, where she played hockey, studied and gave herself the chance to reset.
“It’s been one of the best decisions I’ve made,” she says. “I’m pretty proud of myself for making that decision.”
But while the change of environment helped her mentally, her body was telling a different story.
The hip injury that Doar had managed for almost two years became increasingly difficult to live with. Walking, sitting and playing hockey was painful, and she noticed she was no longer running properly.
In July 2025, she underwent surgery on her hip.
The plan was to spend five or six months rehabilitating before returning to hockey. The hip recovery itself progressed well, but just as she began building back towards a return, a new problem emerged.
A foot injury meant her rehab had to be extended.
By February 2026, seven months removed from her first surgery, Doar returned to a Vantage Black Sticks camp hoping to prove she was ready to return to the international stage.
The environment was different from the one she had left two years earlier, but she immediately felt welcomed.
“The group seemed like they were in a really good spot,” she says. “Everyone just seemed to get along really well.”
Yet there was a conflict between how she wanted to feel and what her body was allowing her to do.
“I wanted to be the player I was when I left,” Doar says.
While her hip was feeling good, her foot was preventing her from running properly. The camp ultimately gave her the clarity she needed.
It showed her that she wanted to stay within the group, but it also showed her that her body needed more work.
“My body was screaming at me to sort itself out,” she says.
That meant making another difficult decision.
Doar opted for a second surgery, just eight months after her first.
“It was definitely confronting knowing that it would be my second surgery after only just completing my rehabilitation,” she says.
“I knew deep down that it was the best thing for me, but in the moment it felt like I was starting back at square one.”
The timing made the decision even harder. With the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup approaching, Doar knew the second surgery could potentially rule her out of the tournament she had been working towards.
Instead, it became another chapter in a long journey back.
Rehabilitation once again became her daily routine. Four hours of rehab on top of normal life, repeating the same exercises day after day, often without any immediate reward.
“Injury rehab is such an isolating feeling. Every day is the same thing on repeat and you don’t really often feel the rewards of those until right now.”
Then came the email.
Doar had been selected for the Vantage Black Sticks squad heading to the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup.
After everything that had happened, the decision to step away, the hip surgery, the foot injury, another surgery and months of rehabilitation, she was going to the World Cup.
“When I got the email to say that I was going away this August for the World Cup, it was a moment where I could just look back at all the work that I’d done and really appreciate how far I’ve come.”
Now, with 71 international appearances behind her, Doar is preparing to pull on the black singlet again on the biggest stage in world hockey.
The journey has changed her perspective on the game and on herself.
“When I reflect on the past two years, I smile.”
“It has changed me for the better as a hockey player and as a person. I’ve learnt the art of patience and the belief I can overcome any challenge that comes my way.”
“Despite all the dark days, I’ve reached the light at the end of the tunnel.”
After two years away from the Vantage Black Sticks, she is heading to Europe, back on the hockey field and back in the black singlet.
And when she steps onto the field at the World Cup, it won't just represent a return to international hockey.
It will be the reward for everything it took to get there.