GREENVILLE,
SC -- Furman women's soccer player Allie Park will miss the 2003 season and
will have to end her soccer career due to a chronic knee injury Furman head
coach Brian Lee announced on Monday. August 4, 2003
GREENVILLE,
SC -- Furman women's soccer player Allie Park will miss the 2003 season and
will have to end her soccer career due to a chronic knee injury Furman head
coach Brian Lee announced on Monday.
Park, who is entering her third year at Furman, was slated to be one of Furman's two captains this season, along with senior Emily Turgeon.
Park played through nagging shin and knee pain during her freshman campaign in 2001 as she saw action in 17 contests, while starting 11 matches. Park entered her sophomore season with the same lingering knee pain. She started Furman's first four matches of the 2002 season before suffering a broken left foot in the fourth match of the season. In addition to recovering from surgery on her foot, Park has undergone a total of three surgeries on her right knee. She worked extensively through the spring to rehabilitate her knee in anticipation of the 2003 campaign, but concerns over the additional damage that soccer and running could cause to her knee has forced Park to end her soccer career.
"To hear my doctor say that I could never play soccer again was absolutely devastating," said Park. "I never though the decision to play wouldn't be mine to make. I have worked so hard to overcome my injuries, but is seems that some things just aren't meant to be. It is hard to imagine my next two years at Furman without being a part of such an amazing program."
"In nine years of coaching at Furman, I don't think I have been around a tougher competitor and harder worker that Allie Park," said Furman head coach Brian Lee. "She is universally well-respected by her teammates and competitors. We will miss her tremendously in this program. Not only was she slated to start in the back, but she was a leader and captain of this team. Our primary concern is helping her though this difficult time. She is so integrated and respected in the Furman community that I have no doubt that she will be successful in her final two years at Furman."
Furman opens the season August 29 against Michigan State in East Lansing.