STARKVILLE — Injuries tried to derail the soccer career of Aubree Campbell.
As a junior, Campbell broke the fourth metatarsal in her foot and had to have a bone graft from her hip. That injury kept her out six months and forced her to miss all of soccer season and part of the girls basketball campaign. With a year to go, though, Campbell had confidence she still would be able to pursue dreams of playing soccer in college.
When her senior season rolled around, though, a meniscus tear in her knee ended her final year at Starkville Academy after only three or four matches. This time, Campbell thought her chances of playing at the next level had ended.
“This might not be what God wants me to do,” Campbell said about her thoughts after she suffered the season-ending injury.
But Campbell’s outlook changed after she visited Meridian Community College.
Campbell said she knew MCC women’s soccer coach Mike Smith and had stayed in touch with him. The trip to MCC erased the doubt Campbell had concerning playing soccer in college.
On Thursday, Campbell made her decision official in a signing ceremony in the school’s lobby.
“I am really glad I made this decision,” Campbell said. “All of these people came out and supported me, so I am really happy.”
Campbell said she liked the campus and the women’s soccer players. She said the connection with Smith, who coached her for several years on a select team in Meridian, added to her comfort level with the school.
“I am just really glad he stuck with me,” Campbell said. “I hope I can make him happy the next two years on the soccer field.”
Campbell has something else to celebrate Thursday, as she was scheduled to return to basketball practice. She said she was medically cleared Wednesday.
Still, the injury left her at a crossroads because she attended several ID camps in the summer in an attempt to raise her profile. She said playing for Smith is a perfect fit because she said he knows her potential.
Campbell said the recovery process didn’t hurt as much as the rehabilitation from her foot injury. After going from feeling like “all hope was lost” for playing soccer in college, Campbell said she is ready to make the most of her opportunity.
Starkville Academy coach Matthew Tremblay didn’t get a full season to work with Campbell, but he is convinced she will be able to transition to MCC. He said she is a versatile player who has a history of playing defense and in the midfield, like she did at the start of this season.
“She had good leadership,” Tremblay said. “Up until about the fifth or sixth game, she was our leading goal scorer. She had a great leg. She knew what she was doing.
“(Losing Campbell) was a tough blow, but we had to figure it out.”
Tremblay said it was a “bummer” that Campbell suffered the injury, but he feels she made a great choice to go to Meridian C.C.
“She was a solid midfielder,” Tremblay said. “She had the strength to keep the ball and the vision and the knowledge of where to play it when she had it. It reminded me a lot of my sister (Megan), who played for four years for Gardner-Webb. She had that something to go play at another level.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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