Anthony Rodriguez '22 Recruiting Profile

Hello Coaches,

I’m a 17 years old soccer player that was in the graduating class of 2021 and was excited to start my college soccer career until everything changed when I saw the face of death in an extreme skateboarding accident this summer. All because I wasn’t wearing a helmet, I fractured my skull in three spots and severed a vein in my brain and had to be rushed to the hospital for an immediate brain operation. I had a 50% chance of survival after the 7 hour operation and had a high chance of being paralyzed if I did end up surviving. The accident happened on June 23rd 2020 and I’m currently writing this on August 28th 2020. I shocked the doctors and am almost fully recovered and am close to being the same person I was before. The only difference being I now see life through the eyes of a survivor. I look at life completely differently and have told myself never to take anything for granted ever again because you can lose it all within the blink of an eye. In my case God had other plans for me and gave me a second chance at life and I’m going to make the most out of it. Regarding my future soccer career, I am training the most I can within the limitations I have to get back in the physical condition I was before. I currently have half my skull so physical training is very restricted but I did lose over 30 pounds while in the hospital so I’m doing the weight work I’m able to do to rebuild the muscle I lost. I am also doing balance training to be able to have the same quick agile movement I had on the field before. All of these restrictions on my training and rehabilitation should be lifted once I get the other half of my skull back in October and then get fully cleared sometime close to January. Once that happens, I will be constantly training to get back to the level I was before. I will have a lot of time on my hands to do this because the doctors advised me to take this year off of school to allow my brain to fully heal and get back to 100%. Which is why I’m not re-classing as a 2022. This accident completely changed my life in every way possible, but it brought me a new prospective and seeing life from this new angle is completely mind blowing. All I know now is that I’m ready to put in all the work needed to reach the level I once was in the field as well as in the classroom