Today, NSR athlete Mary Argall sheds light through her story on how she coped when she was injured within the first week of pre-season training in the states:
Mary started her college experience with warm welcomes from the people of Forest City in Iowa feeling comforted by their ‘mid-west’ mannerism. Although the thought of being individual scared her with the reality of food shopping and laundry, she realised everyone was in the same boat which helped her create bonds with many other students.
A month before the semester commenced, teams gathered to begin preseason. Preseason helps students understand their team mates playing techniques, while the coaches shape up students so that they can be at their peak performance before the soccer season starts. Mary was the fittest she had ever been and it was barely her first week of training before the incident occurred. It was nothing that she could have possibly prepared for; Mary was simply running when she felt a sharp pain strike through the back of her calf which shot up through her knee. Mary was told she was to be on crutches for weeks so she wanted to find something to do rather than feel anxious for her team sitting in the side lines every game.
Moving on from soccer was hard for Mary as there was a strong bond between her and her team mates. This bond gave her a sense of family and belonging which was important to her while not being dependent on her immediate family anymore. To her surprise, Mary managed to have more time to meet other people who captured her attention in the field of theatre. People were friendly and thoroughly entertained by her Australian accent. She made so many friends that she decided to begin auditioning for theatrical performances herself. Mary landed her first role as Luciana in the ‘The Comedy of Errors’ by William Shakespeare which got her nominated for the Irene Ryan Acting Competition making her feel highly valued after the sporting incident.
Life threw Mary a curve ball, where she hit that ball in full swing. This story of hope gives readers a different perspective on never giving up and always pushing forth. Her soccer coach has been of great support to her in these tough times and is holding this door open for when she recovers and returns to Australia. Although leaving Australia through the support of NSR to become a stronger athlete, Mary understands NSR offers more than just superior training. It’s about the experience.
