Inside Toni Pressley’s Breast Cancer Fight and Inspiring Return to Soccer

October 28, 2022
By Garri Chaverst

Toni Pressley is one of the unsung heroes of the NWSL. Fans are quick to latch onto their USWNT favorites and marquee players, but it’s the women like Pressley, who’ve dedicated years to building the NWSL, who don’t get enough credit. Pressley’s professional soccer journey hasn’t been exactly straightforward, but she carved out a place for herself with the Orlando Pride. Then, in 2019, in the middle of her fourth season with the Pride, Pressley was diagnosed with breast cancer. The story of her fight is inspiring to all and we want to honor it this Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Pressley’s professional career got off to a rather bumpy start. After making a name for herself at Florida State University from 2008-2011, she was drafted into the WPS. That should have been the start of an incredible professional soccer career. Except, just a couple of weeks after the 2012 WPS Draft, the season was suspended and as fans know, it never returned.

Instead, Pressley spent the first two seasons of her career playing first in the WPSL Elite for the Western New York Flash, where she and the Flash won the title, and later in Russia for Ryazan-VDV.

When the NWSL was eventually formed, though, Pressley was ready. From 2013-2015, Pressley bounced from team to team, until she was selected by the Orlando Pride in the expansion draft ahead of their inaugural season in the league. Since then, she’s been a mainstay on the Pride backline, helping to carry the team season after season while their significant number of national team players were on international duty.

In a piece for The Equalizer, Pressley revealed she knew about her diagnosis a full month before it was officially announced. She received the news the day before the Orlando Pride’s July 6th game — the last game she would play for months. Pressley’s coaches and trainers offered their unwavering support, but Pressley credits what they didn’t do as one of the “best things they did for [her].” They didn’t treat her any differently, in fact, after she told her teammates and they offered her their support, they went to go lift. Pressley continued training with the team up until her surgery.

In August 2019, the Orlando Pride formally announced the news of her diagnosis. For her part, Pressley was the picture of confidence just days after surgery. She promised in a tweet that same day she would be back soon. And she was.

Just two-and-a-half months after undergoing a double mastectomy, Pressley returned to the pitch in the Orlando Pride’s last game of the 2019 season, which just so happened to be the team’s Breast Cancer Awareness night.

Toni Pressley said in her piece for The Equalizer her experience helped her learn to appreciate the little things in life. Perhaps more importantly, it taught her just how important it is to be proactive about her health–a message she hopes everyone can take away from her story.

Feature photo via Instagram @orlpride