End of Nicaragua - Beginning of a New Season

So I really enjoyed writing my first blog post, so here goes a second try!  I’ll give a little bit more of Nicaragua. By the end of our 10 days in Granada, the five of us felt like we had been there for multiple months.  Not at all in a bad way, however.  We knew our way around, knew the girls (the cutest little girl named Ana-go figure!-attached to Maddie), and knew the coaches and staff as well.  It was pretty cool interacting with the other girls and Nicaraguan and American coaches in a way that didn’t make us seem like the new kids anymore. 

Larissa had asked Katy and I if we she could take us around the town one night.  We were SO excited, but unfortunately were running late that day, so after our last school visit of the day, Katy and I literally SPRINTED back to our house in the barrio (the neighborhood).  It was a good mile, mile and a half.  It was actually hilarious because I was wearing a backpack so I’m sure all of the Nica people outside of their houses thought the two of us were crazy gringos.  But we made it back! Sweating more than I did the whole trip, Claudia had cookies and freshly squeezed fresco for us when we got back.  Larissa was so excited, and so were we.  She brought us around town that night, showed us the churches, her school, giving us our own personal tour.  It was a more than fantastic night, one of the best nights of the whole trip.  At one point, Larissa just turned to Katy and me and said, “I am so happy!”.  That was definitely a high of the trip. 

We headed to Managua to play the Nicaraguan National Team.  It was an awesome ride there, with the Mariposas and Estrellas singing the entire way.  I actually was quite miserable the whole ride because I had to go the bathroom SO SO SO bad.  But I was enjoying listening to the girls all the same.  For some of them it was there first time leaving Granada – that was an awesome thing to be a part of.  The stadium was GIANT. And I mean absolutely giant – the one sided bleachers seemed to reach as high as Jordan-Hare!  We were all anxious to see how we would play together, since we had never practiced and had only met each other the week before.  Started out as a great game, with Lydia getting the first goal! They got a PK on us, but Lydia put a second in making it 2-1 at half. 

I could go a number of ways explaining the second half.  About 15 minutes in, the ball was rolling quickly over the end line.  Sprinting to save it from going out of bounds, I took a wrong step and the worst happened.  I felt things happen in my knee that I didn’t know was possible.  I was taken off the field, and Mary, the head of Soccer Without Borders, had to jump in goal (and wear a HIDEOUS pink keeper jersey, I felt really bad for her).  She did awesome though! And we landed another goal, ending the game 3-1.  As I lay on the sideline after the game, not sure what had just happened, I experienced one of the greatest moments of the trip.  The Mariposas (youngest team of girls that we worked with that week) ran over to me, hugging me and asking if I was okay.  They all seemed so concerned and sad for me.  Their compassion and care blew me away. What touched me even more are the get well cards send by the whole program about 3 weeks later.  Volunteers long gone, and they still cared. Those seven and eight year old girls brought tears to my eyes, adding to my love for Nicaragua and its people. 

I stayed overnight in Managua with Ana and Maddie, who fortunately (and unfortunately) knew exactly how to handle the situation.  We flew back the next morning, and I saw Dr. Andrews the next day.  The worst was confirmed, I had torn my ACL and some partial tearing in my meniscus and MCL.  I had surgery about a week later, and here we are today, 2 months post-op, and I am so excited to get back on the field. 

The crazy thing is, I don’t associate my injury to the trip at all.  I had such an amazing experience those ten days in Nicaragua with my friends and with the program, that something so horrible couldn’t even make a dent in the trip.  I can’t wait to return to Nicaragua and see all the people and coaches and places we became so accustomed to that week. 

As for now, this injury just gives me a different kind of challenge than I was expecting this fall. It's a tough recovery, much tougher than I thought.  But I'm trying to be myself and encourage my teammates as they embark on what could be a history making season. As they put in hard work towards our team goals, they all motivate me to rehab and gain strength towards my individual goals.  If I wasn't working for my team, there wouldn't be much to work for.  I’ve gotten better and stronger every single day, and I am so lucky to have the most incredible support of my teammates and Auburn Soccer staff that I could ever ask for.  If I wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t get very far at all!

And here we are, four days into preseason, we've worked hard all summer, I should be running in a few weeks, and everyone’s looking great! We’re ready for a great season, and if we keep working hard and improving every day like we have so far, this could be one for the books!