“Success is determined by how you handle setbacks“

Being injured as ANY kind of athlete is never ever easy. Being injured overall no matter what you do sucks, but being injured as a professional athlete is even WORSE. If you’re like me, you like to do what you came to do, you like to feel productive, and at the end of the day, you want to do your job. Think of it as being a software coder and having arthritis, or like being an airline pilot and having bad vision. For me, this injury came at an absolutely awful time, but like they say… it could always be worse.

I suffered a stress fracture in my left foot in my second training back from the holidays, and on the last day of 2019 as well. Approximately one week before the u-20 camp that I had been called into that took quite a bit of convincing to let Porto release me for. Originally, the doctors didn’t know exactly what it was since it was relatively small(the fracture) but after getting an X-ray they determined it was in fact broken and that I would indeed need surgery. It was a huge blow for me because I was really looking forward to going to camp to prove myself under the new coach just as I had with Tab a couple of months ago. I’m a pretty positive person though, so I looked on the bright side. My Bulgarian roommate had suffered almost exactly the same injury as me and they had let him go home for two weeks… so that’s what I was expecting as well.

At the end of the day, it turns out that since my fracture was smaller, I have a lesser recovery time, thus me going back home would only delay my recovery by the amount of time that I was home. Obviously it’s easier for him to go back home as well because it takes quite a bit of travel for me to get back to Dallas. Anyway, the surgery went well and I’m 2 weeks in now and my foot is healing nicely, but it has been tough having to watch my teammates train and it always gives you a new appreciation for the game that you love. Sometimes you don’t realize how much you truly love something until you lose it, even for just a little bit. My family more than anything has helped me stay positive because it has been tough mentally, and some of my best friends have been there for me as well, helping cheer me up. All in all, injuries are part of the game. This wasn’t my first one, and although I would like it to be, it most likely won’t be my last one either. For anyone in a situation like mine, the best thing you can do, is accept the situation you’re currently in and make the best out of it. Strengthen other parts of yourself and stay positive through the process. Keep your head down and time will begin to fly by. Everything happens for a reason.