On July 2, 2016, Sacramento Republic FC’s victory against Seattle Sounders FC 2 was bittersweet. While Republic FC defeated S2 2-1 to keep their undefeated streak alive at the time, defender Emrah Klimenta went down, injured with what was later revealed to be an ACL tear in his left knee, effectively ending his 2016 season.

The loss of Klimenta on the pitch was a huge blow to the team. Prior to his injury, the defender had been on a great run. Klimenta had two goals and two assists on the season, and had already played more than 1,000 minutes before his injury in midseason. Klimenta also received his first international call-up in May 2016 to the Montenegro National Team.

This year, the team was dealt a similar blow before the season even began. Defender Carlos Rodriguez’s start to the 2017 campaign was cut short as the 20-year-old defender was sidelined on Feb. 25 after fracturing his left ankle in a friendly match against the
San Jose Earthquakes.

Both players were treated at UC Davis Health’s Outpatient Surgery Center – Klimenta by Dr. Cassandra Lee on July 20, 2016, and Rodriguez by Dr. Eric Giza on Mar. 2, 2017. Klimenta and Rodriguez entered physical therapy with Results Physical Therapy and Training Center following their respective surgeries, working with Republic FC’s sports science staff, John Duncan, MA, ATC and Katy Norton, DPT.

“I see them every day. Whether it’s on the field, like when I run a session with Carlos while the rest of the team trains, or when I see them at Results on the days I’m not at training,” said Norton. “They’re getting rehab every day. When the team is on the road, they’ll either see me or they’ll have an at-home program. They’re doing something every day.”

The mental aspect is pretty exhausting to be honest...It depends on the severity of your injury but for myself, missing four or five games now, it’s tough. - Adam Moffat

Because every injury and every player is different, the approach is tailored for each specific case. Klimenta was at Results ready to start his recovery two days after surgery, having been through the process before when he endured a similar injury in his right knee earlier in his career.

For Rodriguez, it was his first major injury. During the first week, Duncan and Norton worked on just getting him to understand what the journey through recovery was going to look like over the next couple of months.

“He was in a lot of pain, which made him kind of fearful so just getting him to know what’s normal pain, what he should be feeling, what he shouldn’t be feeling and what to expect over the next few weeks was the focus,” said Norton. “Carlos was in a boot for eight weeks which makes not only his ankle but his whole leg really weak. So, the first thing we focused on was getting his pain down.”

The next steps focus on getting the player’s range of motion back, which involves a lot of stretching and massage to bring the swelling down. After that, the athletic trainers work on the player’s strength before transitioning into movements that will prepare the player to be back on the pitch, such as running, jumping, turning and cutting.

But aside from the physical rehabilitation, the psychological component involved with recovery is just as crucial in getting players back on the pitch. When a player is sidelined, staying mentally in a competitive mindset and feeling part of the team while not training with the squad or being able to travel, can be just as difficult as the rest of their physical recovery.

“The mental aspect is pretty exhausting to be honest,” said midfielder Adam Moffat, who is working his way back from a groin strain suffered in mid-April. “It depends on the severity of your injury but for myself, missing four or five games now, it’s tough. There are some weeks that you’re watching the game and you’re dying to be out there but you have to be smart and you have to be ready to come back when your body is telling you it is ready. Mentally it’s tough. Luckily, I have an outlet with my family. But still, I’ve played for 14 years now and it’s never fun to be injured. Coming back is always a grind but you have to really apply yourself.”

For Rodriguez, the entire process has been mentally taxing. When he first went down, Rodriguez thought it was a minor injury that would put him out for maybe a week or two. The defender couldn’t believe it when he was told by the team’s medical staff that his ankle was likely fractured. X-rays confirmed it was a fracture and he was forced to come to terms with the fact that he would need surgery and be out for weeks, maybe months.

With his family thousands of miles away back in his home of Coahuila, Torreón, Mexico, being separated from them during the worst moment in his career has been one of the most challenging aspects for Rodriguez. In their absence, Rodriguez has leaned on his teammates, who have all been there to offer their support as he works his way back.

“I don’t have any family here and that’s been one of the worst parts,” said Rodriguez. “After the surgery, I couldn’t do much and I had to be resting a lot. Thankfully I was able to count on Danny [Barrera], who stepped in during that time after my surgery. He opened his home to me when I needed a lot of help and thanks to him I didn’t struggle as much without my family here. The rest of the guys have also been great, always ready to help and offering their encouragement.”

On top of being without any of his family members close by, Rodriguez is also still learning English, which has made the entire ordeal even more challenging. Despite the struggles, Rodriguez and his medical staff, including Norton, have made it work in
order to keep him on track in his journey
back to the pitch. 

“The language barrier does make it a little more difficult. There’s a lot of acting things out and struggling, and a lot of Google Translator,” said Norton. “I try to practice my Spanish, and he’s working on his English. But there are hard moments. For example, I know the Spanish word for pain but different things like ‘it’s sore’ or ‘it’s aching’, those are things that are not necessarily as easy for me to understand. So, I’m like pain? And he says, well no and then he tells me something but I don’t know what he’s telling me. Luckily a lot of the guys on the team speak Spanish so that helps. We’re both learning a lot and his English has actually gotten a lot better throughout his physical therapy.”

Rodriguez’s recovery progress has been impressive, with the help of Norton who has been there every step of the way, along with Duncan and Dr. Giza. From being on crutches just over a month ago, Rodriguez is now running on a body weight support treadmill that helps to mitigate impact as he eases back along with getting touches on the ball in his training with Norton. Despite how far he has come physically, he’s still working on overcoming the psychological effects of the injury.

“There’s a fear that comes with injury, especially your first serious injury,” said Rodriguez. “You’re scared to push too hard, scared that one wrong movement is going to regress your recovery process or put you out of action again. The physical part is one thing, but getting mentally strong again is just as big of a part of the process.”

Teammates like Moffat and Klimenta, who have been there before, are helpful for young players like Rodriguez going through the first serious injury in their careers.  In contrast with the 20-year-old Rodriguez, Klimenta’s state of mind ahead of getting back shows the player’s maturity and experience.

Having gone through this process before has helped the 26-year-old defender get ahold of the fear that can persist after an injury.

“When I’m getting ready to get back on the pitch with the team, I always tell myself, ‘your rehab process has gone well. You’re stronger, you’re better than you were before.’ I just go out on that field and I don’t think about the injury,” said Klimenta. I don’t think about it because I feel like the more I think about it, like ‘oh if I do this or that it might happen again,’ I’m putting myself in a place where it could happen again because I’m psyching myself out. Instead, I just put it out of my mind and focus on the now rather than worrying.”

While Rodriguez and Moffat are still working their way back to full health, Klimenta has already made his return to the pitch. He played his first competitive minutes on Mar. 1 in a friendly against Sacramento State. Klimenta marked his return to USL play on March 26 in Republic FC’s first match of the 2017 season with a 2-1 win over Seattle Sounders FC 2. Since his return, Klimenta has appeared in every Republic FC league match, starting in all but one.

“It feels great to be back. It’s been a long eight months in the making,” said Klimenta. “It was already a special moment getting back on the pitch for a league match but it was even more special to get the match-winning goal against the team I got my injury against. I’d talked about a moment like that and the fact that it happened is unbelievable. It’s been an eight-month process of hard work and dedication with the support of my coaching and training staff, family and friends. I couldn’t have asked for a better return.”

Comebacks like Klimenta’s are what the medical staff would like for every player. And while perhaps not all players will mark their returns to the pitch with a goal, just seeing them get to do what they love again is the best reward for both sides.

“If there’s one thing I want people to know it’s how hard they work,” said Norton. “Maybe on the fans’ end, they just want their favorites back. They understand, obviously that the guys have gone through surgery and they’re slowly getting back but if they could see how hard these guys are grinding every day. Emrah was working maybe four to five hours every single day, with rest days as needed but it’s a grind. They’re working their butts off. Fans see them during games when they’re not active, but if they saw what goes on behind the scenes, how tired they are every day. How their bodies are killing them and how they’re pushing through a lot. But they are so fun to work with and so easy. Easy because they work hard. Maybe like three days out of six months Emrah had a tough day. But three days out of six months to get frustrated is pretty darn good.”