Soccer veterans battle to return to the field

Soccer veterans battle to return to the field

Martin and Chaisongkram suffer similar knee injuries, out of
action for 1994-95

By Tim Costner

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

The 1994 spring season began well enough for the UCLA men’s
soccer team.

The Bruins, without the presence of any of the seniors who had
helped lead the team last fall, were coming together quite well as
a team. Newer players were beginning to fill in the gaps and the
team was winning its games. More importantly, everyone was
healthy.

Healthy that is, until the last two weeks of the season turned
ugly.

The misfortunes began in one of the Bruins’ last spring
scrimmages ­ an extremely one-sided thrashing of San Diego
State in Las Vegas.

All was going well for UCLA until sophomore midfielder Phillip
Martin, who was sprinting down the sideline, tried to make a cut
and instead fell to the ground in excruciating pain.

It was his anterior cruciate ligament, and the tear would
sideline him for the 1994 season.

Then, just two weeks later ­ on the very last day of spring
practice ­ the Bruins’ problems got worse.

In an intrasquad scrimmage on the North Soccer Field, junior
forward Eric Chaisongkram dribbled into a one-on-one situation and
had to leap over the charging goalie. When he came down, his knee
twisted, and ­ like Martin’s ­ his ACL gave way.

The coincidence was frightening.

"I actually blew out my ACL while Phil was in surgery,"
Chaisongkram said. "I went in to see him that night limping. It was
pretty crazy."

Crazy and extremely frustrating. Chaisongkram was UCLA’s second
leading scorer as a sophomore last year with six goals and 10
assists. He was a lock to start for the Bruins this season.

Martin had begun to prove himself last year with strong, second
half showings. He had played in 18 games, started five, and
provided the depth that any good team needs to be successful.

"It’s been hard watching the games and wanting to help out,"
Martin admitted. "It’s a helpless feeling and it’s disappointing
because I had basically just gotten my foot in the door as far as
starting’s concerned. I was playing a new position and wanted to
show the coaches I could play it well. But things happen all the
time. I still have a positive outlook."

Surprisingly, Chaisongkram and Martin ­ who have both
already used their redshirt season prior to this season ­ are
just the third and fourth Bruin soccer players who have torn an ACL
in the 14 years that head coach Sigi Schmid has been at UCLA.

"We’ve had very few ACL injuries," Schmid said. "We had one in
1980 with Charles Fisher and we had one in 1984 when Mike Etchell
did his ACL at the start of the season. Both of these players came
back 100 percent."

And since today’s athlete can return from an ACL injury in eight
or nine months, Schmid expects Chaisongkram and Martin to be at
full strength for next season.

"By the time next fall rolls around they will have been 14
months out of surgery," Schmid said. "Our expectation is that
during the spring season they will begin to possibly play and at
least train with us."

But returning to full strength after an ACL injury requires much
more than just regaining strength and returning to practice,
according to Schmid.

"There are three levels of recovery," Schmid said. "One is the
physical level, the second is their touch and the fine-tuning of
what they need to do on the field. The third area is the most
difficult ­ it’s basically the psychological area. When are
they going to feel comfortable making cuts?"

But talk of recovery ­ though highly likely ­ is still
somewhat premature. Chaisongkram and Martin are both prepared to
wait until their knees are at full strength before they try to
resume with the team’s regular routine.

"Sig told me to work hard and try to come back this season, even
if it’s only for 10 minutes," Chaisongkram said. "But I also don’t
want come back unless I’m at 100 percent. This is the type of
situation that I don’t want to have happen again."

Martin feels the same way.

"I’d rather be safe than sorry," he said. "We’re going to work
hard to try to get back as soon as possible. I’ve adopted a
wait-and-see attitude as far as this is concerned."

And so far, the recovery has gone well. Chaisongkram started
running two weeks ago, and Martin feels that he’s at about 60 or 70
percent recovery.

"We’re both strong," Chaisongkram said. "We’ve been working out
every day and doing as much as possible. We also been working with
the ball every day. As far as the question of when we’re going to
be back and if we’re going to be as good ­ only time will
tell. Until then I’ll have to bite my tongue, and show what I can
do when I am ready."