My Lumberjack Life: Carli Arthurs
8/6/2021 9:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
My four years at SFA turned out to be so much more than I could have imagined. In fact, I loved those first four years so much, I decided to stay another year and a half. A series of unfortunate events led to this extended stay, but it paid off to be one of the most rewarding times in my life, in more ways than one.
I would be lying if I didn't say that the injury I am about to talk about is goofy. We were playing an exhibition match against Louisiana-Monroe in early August of my true senior year, and my big toe was stepped on just perfectly while playing, and it ended up breaking. I thought I was going to be able to play through the fall, but after our trip to Charleston, I decided it was in my best interest to red shirt and return for a fifth year.
With a new head coach, Coach Minatta, we went into the Spring 2020 season excited for what was to come. We were fortunate to get a few games in, but as the story goes, we were shut down due to COVID-19. Four months go by, and we were able to return to SFA. We started summer workouts and continued to push forward, though we didn't know what the fall would look like. My original plan was to stay through December 2020, but as conference play was pushed to the spring, I knew I'd be in Nacogdoches for another six months.
January 2021 then rolled around, and we were finally getting ready to start conference play. Our team could not have been more prepared and eager to prove what it means to be a Lumberjack. A few weeks into the semester, I found out that year would not count towards our eligibility. I immediately knew I wanted to take my COVID year. What was supposed to be an extra six months for a fifth year quickly turned into eighteen months for a sixth year.
About halfway into an already successful season, I found out I needed knee surgery. Within a week of the MRI, I was bound to crutches for six weeks. This was the first serious injury in my career, and I immediately had to adjust to my new role on the team. I'll be the first to admit I had doubts about being fully recovered for the fall season. However, seeing the drive and success of my teammates encouraged me every day. We went on the win the Southland Conference and proved exactly what we were capable of doing.
When I was a bright-eyed freshman back in 2016, I never would have imagined my time at SFA to look the way it has. Looking back, I couldn't imagine it anything other way. My first four years at SFA were incredible in so many ways. This past year has been the most memorable one.
Through the twists and turns of injuries plus COVID-19, I got to play college soccer longer than most people do. I worked toward my MBA, a degree I once thought I'd never be interested in, and learned lessons that will help me no matter the stage of life I'm in. (It also didn't hurt that I got to put off becoming a real adult for just a little bit longer!) None of this would have been possible without family, friends, teammates, coaches, staff, and the Nacogdoches community. They've encouraged me every step of the way and paved the way for me to chase my dreams.
I've had my ups and downs, but the one thing that never changed was my hunger to get back out there. There wasn't a day that went by that I wasn't thinking about the next time I'd be on our field. Though it's been a long five months, we're now a few short weeks away from taking the field against LSU on August 14th. I could go on and on about how SFA and the people here have changed my life. For now, I'll say I sure am proud to be a Lumberjack!
I would be lying if I didn't say that the injury I am about to talk about is goofy. We were playing an exhibition match against Louisiana-Monroe in early August of my true senior year, and my big toe was stepped on just perfectly while playing, and it ended up breaking. I thought I was going to be able to play through the fall, but after our trip to Charleston, I decided it was in my best interest to red shirt and return for a fifth year.
With a new head coach, Coach Minatta, we went into the Spring 2020 season excited for what was to come. We were fortunate to get a few games in, but as the story goes, we were shut down due to COVID-19. Four months go by, and we were able to return to SFA. We started summer workouts and continued to push forward, though we didn't know what the fall would look like. My original plan was to stay through December 2020, but as conference play was pushed to the spring, I knew I'd be in Nacogdoches for another six months.
January 2021 then rolled around, and we were finally getting ready to start conference play. Our team could not have been more prepared and eager to prove what it means to be a Lumberjack. A few weeks into the semester, I found out that year would not count towards our eligibility. I immediately knew I wanted to take my COVID year. What was supposed to be an extra six months for a fifth year quickly turned into eighteen months for a sixth year.
About halfway into an already successful season, I found out I needed knee surgery. Within a week of the MRI, I was bound to crutches for six weeks. This was the first serious injury in my career, and I immediately had to adjust to my new role on the team. I'll be the first to admit I had doubts about being fully recovered for the fall season. However, seeing the drive and success of my teammates encouraged me every day. We went on the win the Southland Conference and proved exactly what we were capable of doing.
When I was a bright-eyed freshman back in 2016, I never would have imagined my time at SFA to look the way it has. Looking back, I couldn't imagine it anything other way. My first four years at SFA were incredible in so many ways. This past year has been the most memorable one.
Through the twists and turns of injuries plus COVID-19, I got to play college soccer longer than most people do. I worked toward my MBA, a degree I once thought I'd never be interested in, and learned lessons that will help me no matter the stage of life I'm in. (It also didn't hurt that I got to put off becoming a real adult for just a little bit longer!) None of this would have been possible without family, friends, teammates, coaches, staff, and the Nacogdoches community. They've encouraged me every step of the way and paved the way for me to chase my dreams.
I've had my ups and downs, but the one thing that never changed was my hunger to get back out there. There wasn't a day that went by that I wasn't thinking about the next time I'd be on our field. Though it's been a long five months, we're now a few short weeks away from taking the field against LSU on August 14th. I could go on and on about how SFA and the people here have changed my life. For now, I'll say I sure am proud to be a Lumberjack!
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