Blog #1: Meet Thomas Campbell

Thomas Campbell is a senior forward on the UNC Greensboro men's soccer team. This year will be different for the three-year starter, however. Campbell will be sitting out his redshirt season while recovering from a knee injury he suffered last spring. Each Friday, Campbell will blog about the Spartans' soccer season, his teammates, his classes and his journey back to the soccer pitch in the rehab process. Today is the first installment.

Hi, I'm Thomas. I would like to welcome all of you to my blog. I am excited to take part in this experience and look forward to sharing my thoughts with all of you. While I write these blogs, I will give you all a brief description of my week and elaborate on some of the good times and the bad times.

Well, here we go. Let's see if I am any good at this blog stuff. :- )

I am from Middletown, N.J. It is located in Central Jersey about 10 miles from the beach and about 35 miles south of New York City. Its about 3 miles from the homes of some famous celebrities you might know - Bon Jovi, Queen Latifah, and Bruce Springsteen.

I'm entering my senior year at UNC Greensboro. We've been in the NCAA Tournament twice during my time here (making it to the Round of 16 both times) and played in the Southern Conference championship match all three years. Last year, I led our team in goals, but we lost in the conference title game.

I will graduate in December 2009 due to the injury I suffered this past spring. On April 13th while playing in a spring match, I tore my ACL. I decided to finish the semester out and get operated on after that. I underwent an ACL reconstruction and a lateral meniscectomy on June 6th. For all you that don't know what a meniscectomy is, it is the partial removal of a torn meniscus. So, for this season, I will be a redshirt.

Returning to school this summer was a completely different experience. Following my surgery, I spent a good amount of time rehabbing and relaxing. The past three years, I spent my summers working out and getting fit for the upcoming season. But this season is a lot different. Returning as a senior and captain of the team without being able to play has been a difficult experience. Sitting on the sideline during preseason wasn't so bad (just like most players, I don't like to run), but sitting on the sidelines during a game is hard. As an athlete you can't let it bother you, though. You have to make the best of it and stay strong. I just keep telling myself that I will not let myself be one of those players that gets hurt and is never the same again. That has been my primary motivation to get back.

We started out our preseason play by beating Duke, 1-0, and Gardner-Webb, 3-2. The team has been playing well and we hope we can keep up the determination and hard work as the season starts up.

Last weekend (August 30) we opened up in Virginia at William and Mary. We know our first three matches are going to be a good challenge as we play Winthrop our second game and ranked Old Dominion third – both teams are picked to win their respective conferences. We need to take it one game at a time and play our game. If we do, I think we will get good results.

We returned early Sunday morning after a tough loss on the road, 2-1. William and Mary was a decent team, although we gave up two "so-so" goals. They scored the game-winner in the 88th minute. It was quite the heartbreaker, but we need to play better than we did.

We have had a decent week of training so far, so hopefully the team is ready for the upcoming weekend against Winthrop and Old Dominion.

This short week has been enjoyable but tough. Classes are very challenging (this is our second week back in session) and rehab is starting to get pretty intense. This week, I started weight training to go along with some light jogging and light footwork.

I appreciate all of you reading my first blog and I hope you return to read future entries. I look forward to the season getting going and the long rehab journey I have ahead of me.

Until next time ...

Thomas Campbell, #7

- UNCG -