An innocent mistake leading to a failed drug test had threatened to derail the 25-year-old’s football career earlier this year.
The banned substance was Modafinil, a prescription medication the now-Southern United midfielder takes.
It is also classed as a performance-enhancing stimulant. Brown began taking it during her four years playing at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.
It is used to treat narcolepsy and cataplexy, conditions she was diagnosed with after a sleep test study in her second year. They can cause involuntary sleep, fainting and loss of muscle control during waking hours.
She had been back in Auckland for eight months, involved in the Football Ferns with the Future Football Development Programme. The medication had not been a problem until that point.In the United States Brown had not needed to provide her exemption documentation until after the test.
In New Zealand that had to be done beforehand.
No-one had told her the systems were different.
When she was contacted about the test in New Zealand she went to provide the supporting documentation. However, she was informed it was too late and was left facing a four-year ban.
"I was at work and just burst into tears when I found out, and left," she said.
"I was sad for maybe one or two days.
"Then I was like ‘First World problem, get over it, you’re fine. Sort out what the next plan is’."
That left her to sit out a stressful four months while the case was sorted.
However, that was not the end of it."I was trying to figure out if I could train or play.
"I got told I was going to get a year off at the least — that was the best result I could get.
"But my lawyer was amazing and he got Wada and Drug Free Sport [New Zealand] to meet up."
It turned out Wada — the governing body of Drug Free Sport New Zealand — had a clause regarding the situation that DFSNZ did not.
After the two met they decided to drop the case and Brown was free to resume playing.
She no longer takes playing for granted, but admitted the situation had been a roadblock.
After being informed of the news she had worked hard to believe she would be happy with a life without it.
Mentally, it had been tough to get back to where she had been. She quit her job in architecture and began her personal training business — although that was also a positive to come from the experience as she loved her new job.
