Manchester United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce is a qualified marine scientist. She talks Arctic dives, sea slugs and her plans for life after football.
“Iloveseaslugs;they’rebasicallylikethePokémonoftheocean.”Phallon Tullis-Joyce
For Phallon Tullis-Joyce, the ocean has always been more than just a place to visit. From growing up in Long Island with a beach always on her doorstep, to qualifying as a marine scientist, Fallon’s passion and commitment to marine biology alongside her love for football has allowed her to combine two vastly different worlds.
For most professional footballers, the hours away from the game are usually spent relaxing, watching TV, going to the gym or travelling. For United’s goalkeeper, when it’s the off-season, she spends her time in the ocean.
Her love for marine life started when she was just five years old, growing up in Long Island, an island fittingly shaped like a fish.
“I’ve actually never been more than 20 minutes away from the ocean and the beach,” she continues “I was always going there with my family; things were washing up on shore, and I just began wondering what they were and just never stopped from there.”
This childhood fascination and passion for all things marine life eventually grew into a large part of Phallon’s adult life.
She went on to study marine science and biology at the University of Miami before continuing her studies and gaining a master’s degree in tropical marine system management.
And as football created a new career path, marine biology is still at the forefront of her plans after retirement.
“It’s always been there; it’s not even Plan B, it’s the plan coming up soon after this career,” she says. “So, it’s always been there and will continue to be there for sure!”
**Love of diving
**
Tullis-Joyce’s love of the ocean comes from the incredible world hidden below the surface.
Whether scuba-diving or snorkelling, she describes the experience as “entering a new world” and implores people to investigate and appreciate the ocean and everything that lives in it.
“I think the creatures that are beneath the sea are so amazingly adapted to their environment,” she explains. “They’ve really adapted to a difficult environment and grown some crazy things about them. I love seeing it!”
Her interest in the ocean has taken her all over the world, from the cold seas of Norway to the glistening waters of Hawaii; Phallon has encountered some of the world’s most interesting creatures.
One of her favourites came during a dive in Hawaii, where she encountered her favourite creature, the sea slug.
“I love sea slugs; they’re basically like the Pokémon of the ocean,” she says. “They come in all different shapes, sizes and colours and we spotted over ten species of sea slugs on just one dive.
But Tullis-Joyce’s ocean adventures have not been limited to warm waters.
Her dry-suit certification allows her to dive in much colder environments – a skill that has led her to one of her most unexpected experiences.
While visiting Norway, Phallon signed herself and her partner up for a dive without realising how far north the country was.
“I didn’t know how far Norway extended north,” she admits. The dive ended up taking place in the Arctic Ocean in below 0 degrees water.
“There were not many people there, because not many people were diving in that colder water,” she says.
“But the kelp that was there was beautiful, pristine. The way that it rolled underneath the water, it was golden brown. It was gorgeous, and so that was a moment that really had a lasting impact on me.”
Two worlds colliding
On the surface, football and marine biology seemingly have nothing in common, but for Tullis-Joyce the similarities are surprisingly clear.
In particular, she sees a connection between her role as a goalkeeper and her responsibilities when scuba diving.
“When you enter the ocean, I think there’s a real diligence that you have to have as a scuba diver, and it’s similar to being a goalkeeper,” she explains. “When diving, your life is based on a tank on your back, so you have to know your stuff, pay attention, be careful of your dive buddy, just as you have to be mindful of your teammates,” she continues. “No two days are the same on the field or in the ocean.”
Geography prevents Tullis-Joyce from following her passion while in Manchester, though living in the UK has allowed her to expand her interests within the wildlife sector.
She has spent time exploring Anglesey, exploring local quarries and observing the nature native to the UK, specifically birds.
“It doesn’t have to be birdwatching,” she says. “Any type of life that’s around, I’ll look for.”
Bringing marine biology into the dressing room
Her passion for the natural world inevitably finds its way into her football life too, for Tullis Joyce admits she regularly shows her teammates pictures of her scuba diving or birdwatching on her phone.
“I’ll just slide my phone over and show people what I’ve seen, and I love it!”
And her passion seems to be rubbing off on her teammates, with fellow United player Julia Ziogotti recently going scuba diving during the off season: “she had a great time!”
Tullis-Joyce is also keen to use her platform as a professional athlete to both advocate and protect the ocean.
She has become an ambassador for organisations including 11th Hour Racing and Ocean Rising, allowing her to combine her sporting platform with her scientific background.
“It allows me to bridge sports and science with my platform,” she continues. “I’m using social media to let people know how cool the ocean is and how we can help it a bit more.”
Raising awareness
For Tullis-Joyce, the conversation around ocean conversation needs to continue.
While pollution has traditionally been at the centre of the media, alongside public discussions about marine health, she believes there is now an opportunity to focus heavily on solutions.
“There’s been a lot of attention on classic pollution,” she says.
“But moving forward to a conversation of solutions is probably what we could do better at letting the general public know.” She continues: “trusting the scientists and letting them pass on that information to how we can actually help our ocean.”
Suffice to say that Tullis-Joyce can see herself as working in the sector to try and do what she can.
“I see myself working in the realm of marine protected areas,” she says.
Her vision is one that balances conservation with communities who live hand in hand with these environments.
“There’s obviously people there, and we have to make sure that everyone’s benefitting, whether that be the animals, the people that live next to them, but make sure that we’re protecting our oceans.”
And though her future within marine biology looks bright, her focus for now remains on Manchester United. Her two worlds may seem completely different, but for her, they bring both peace and ambition within her life.
