How season-ending injury is reframing how Freeport’s Camryn Woods views her soccer future
Camryn Woods has gotten a glimpse of where her soccer career is going.
A recent setback has helped give her an idea of what might be even further along down the road.
The Freeport senior, Ohio women’s soccer commit and last season’s Butler Eagle Girls Soccer Player of the Year won’t suit up for Steve Kukic’s Yellowjackets again as she recovers from a knee injury suffered during her club campaign. Woods is still doing her part to better the defending WPIAL Class 2A champions, though.
Seeing things from the sideline for once, she hasn’t been able to resist giving pointers to her younger, more inexperienced teammates.
“My dad and I were talking, saying, ‘Maybe this is my calling. Maybe I’m meant to be a coach,’” Woods said after attending Ohio’s recent game against Pitt. “And I’ve always been interested in the fact that I could become a college coach. And with playing college soccer, you already have the baseline that you need for that. ... I’ve always enjoyed helping people in any aspect.”
Woods also returned to Athens for the Bobcats’ football home opener Saturday and is planning on being there Thursday when the women’s soccer team takes on Western Michigan.
Woods — who last season turned in 26 goals and 16 assists “while being double- and triple-teamed,” Kukic said in December — tore both her ACL and meniscus in May. She took a corner kick, then had it passed back to her before working down the sideline while jostling with an opponent.
“After I crossed it, she shoved me toward the ground, and as I fell, I tried to catch myself, but fell awkwardly,” Woods said. “Then, immediately, I felt a pop and I went down.”
When her father approached, Woods told him she already knew what the diagnosis would be. She was scared of the difficult road ahead. After hearing the result later that night, she cried, also thinking about what she’d miss out on while rehabbing. Woods hadn’t undergone a surgery before and was nervous at first about that, too.
The worries have given way to a determined attitude.
“I’m gonna come out of this on the better side than I even was before,” Woods said.
Woods is staying involved with her team as much as she can. Unless she has physical therapy sessions that interfere, she’s made it to every one of Freeport’s games. It’s a bittersweet feeling for her that her prep career is over.
“I do feel content and happy with what I’ve done with Freeport, and what the team did last year is incredible — and we made history,” Woods said. “Obviously, it’s still upsetting to miss this year, but if I do have to look back and look at what we’ve done, it means a lot.”
The ’Jackets were off to a 3-1-0 start before they took on WPIAL Section 2-2A foe Deer Lakes on Monday.
