Emotional return: Gionta fights her way back

by Matthew Ondesko: Managing Editor

In a blink of an eye it can all be taken away from you. Just like that everything you have worked for can be gone in an instance.

Injuries happen all the time when playing sports. Some injuries you can play through. Others could take you out for a while. Either way, coming back from some time off is never easy. Both physically, and mentally, you have to prepare yourself to get on the field again.

Leah Gionta knows what it’s like not to be able to help her teammates out on the pitch. For the past two years, Gionta was out with an injury and had the daunting task of trying to get back on the pitch, and help her St. Mary’s High School teammates win another Monsignor Martin title.

Finally after two long years of not being able to play, Gionta was back out there this past fall. The first time she stepped back on the pitch you could see the emotions take over. It was a long road to get back where she needed to be.

“Getting back on the field was a flood of emotions for me. To be perfectly honest it was a little scary because I hadn’t been on the field in so long but it was also relieving,” stated Gionta. “I was finally back to what I loved doing the most. It was an incredible feeling and I really just tried to take it all in because I worked so hard to achieve being back on the field that it almost didn’t even feel real.”

Just to be able to play again was something of a relief for Gionta. She won’t sugar coat it the past two years were hard both on her physically and mentally. The surgery was a daunting one, but in reality it was the easiest part of all of it.

It was what lied ahead after the surgery. The recovery process, the physical therapy. The things that people might not see and take for grant it. Throughout the process there were times Gionta just didn’t want to do it.

She had her ups and downs, days where she grinded through the process, and days where she just had enough. But, she wanted to do everything possible to get back to the sport she loves, and to play with teammates she has formed a bond with.

“I won’t try and pretend like everything was perfect and linear in my recovery. It took a lot of perseverance to get back on the field. It was physically and mentally one of the hardest things to go through. Surgery was obviously very daunting but what followed was what became the hardest part,” stated Gionta. “The surgery in hindsight was almost the easiest part of the recovery. It took a toll on me to have to put in the work, day in and day out just to get back to the sport I loved so much. The recovery process was always up and down. I would have good days and bad days. It was hard to stay motivated to my recovery after being out for such a long time. But in the end I just had to find a way to push past all the struggle if I wanted to ever see the field again. I won’t lie, the recovery was very isolating especially because I was so used to being in a team setting but it helped to shape me into the person I am now.”

Throughout the process to get back on the field, Gionta was tested mentally, probably more than physically. An athlete she could deal with the physical part of rehab, but the mental part can weight on an athlete.

It’s tough when a day of rehab doesn’t go according to plan. Gionta had to get her mind right when that would happen. If she didn’t see those gains on a certain day she had to put it in the back of her mind, and know what she was doing every day was working.

She took that type of mentality back to the pitch this season. She knew not everyday was going to be a perfect day out there. She knew she was going to have great days, and not so great days.

But, she also remembered that is was just a game. She was grateful to be able to get back out there and run around with her teammates and make plays. She was grateful to help the team win enough games to win the Monsignor Martin title.

“Throughout the recovery I definitely was tested mentally a lot. It was a lot to handle being sidelined for so long but it definitely instilled in me another level of mental toughness that I would have never gotten if it wasn’t for my injury. I have worked on the mental side of the game a lot and what’s most important to me is just allowing myself to still enjoy playing soccer each and every day,” stated Gionta. “There’s a lot of times where the joy for the game gets lost but it was mentally so important for me to remind myself in times of struggle just why I play soccer and how much I enjoy it. I also think for me personally it was really important to reflect on all the time I wasn’t able to play soccer which helped to remind me that it is a privilege to be able to step on the field. I also think it is important for athletes to realize that there are going to be days where the mental side of the game becomes challenging and I think just recognizing that things aren’t always perfect is important to staying mentally strong during a season.”

Gionta also learned not to take anything for grant it again. The game she loved was taken away from her for the past two years. Nothing is promised in life. One minute you could be on top of the world, and the next you could be sitting on the sidelines saying what if.

She knows how lucky she was to get back on the field this season. Her recovery didn't go according to plan, but she dug deep inside herself to push through to get where she wanted to be.

Gionta learned what type of person she is. She learned that she is stronger than she thought. She learned to preserve in the face of adversity.

“The biggest thing I took away from not being able to play over the past couple of seasons was to just not take anything for granted. Nothing is promised and I think that’s the biggest thing I learned. Everything could be going your way and then it could just change in an instant so I learned to be appreciative of just the little things because I knew what it felt like to get the thing I loved most stripped away from me for such a long time,” stated Gionta. “I also learned to preserve. My recovery didn’t go as planned most of the time and it really taught me how to dig in and persevere even when it seemed impossible. I also learned how strong I was as an individual, there were things I thought during my recovery that I would never get through or never be able to conquer and I always did. That’s something that helped me realize that I way stronger than I ever thought.”

When she finally was cleared the play, the coaching staff didn’t waste anytime getting her back out there. Gionta had to get over the mental hurdle of getting knocked around again. She also had to work on her stamina.

Working out is one thing, game shape is another. Gionta freely admits that getting her endurance back, after being off for so long, was one of the toughest things she had to do. In the beginning it was tough trying to keep up with the speed of the game.

As the season went along, Gionta found herself keeping up and just letting her instincts take over, like they have done so many times before.

“Getting my endurance back was honestly one of the hardest things to do. It took a lot of time for me to really feel like I could keep up and be able to push myself for that amount of minutes. The biggest thing I did was just trying to limit my minutes at first and then gradually ease into it which made the transition a lot smoother,” stated Gionta. “It required a lot of work outside of the field to feel good enough to play in a game but it was all worth it. It is something that I just had to train really hard to get back and something that I continue to work on. However nothing really prepares you for all the uncontrollables when it comes to playing again so it was just as important mentally as it was physically to prepare to be back on the field.”

On the field, Gionta’s soccer instincts, and soccer IQ just took over. She is one of the smarter players on the pitch, and it showed every game she was in. While she wasn’t able to play over the past couple of seasons, that doesn’t mean she stopped watching soccer.

She became a student of the game. There she was on the sidelines watching the game like a coach would. She could see a different perspective when it came to the game of soccer. She saw the flow of the game differently, and what to do, and not to do, when she finally got back out there.

“My soccer IQ is one of the most important parts of my game. It plays a huge role in who I am as a player. It helped me when I finally got back on the field because it was something I was able to keep sharp while I couldn’t physically play,” stated Gionta. “I watched a ton of soccer when I was on the sidelines, which helped me to continue to sharpen my IQ even though I wasn’t actively on the field. I think this is what helped back my transition back so smooth when it came to getting my game timing back.”

Her season was deemed a success by just stepping back out there this season. But, Gionta just didn’t take up space, she contributed to the championship run of the Lancers. She was able to chip in with three goals and added five assists, while playing 14 games.

There were no expectations placed on Gionta when the season started. She came into the year just happy to be cleared to play. When she added to her point total that was just icing on the cake.

“I would say it went really well. It was my first full season back and so I really tried to have no expectations going into the season,” stated Gionta. “So when I ended up getting some points I was super happy because it reflected the good play I had been having all season and all the hard work I had put in to prepare myself to be back on the field.”