Return to Training – Post Injury

Return to Training - Ava Ozurumba

Return to Training

In the early evening of August 28th, Ava made her long-awaited return to training, post-injury! Before we get into that, let me recap what happened.

The Injury

Ava suffered a hip/groin soft tissue injury while playing beach soccer on June 16th. She didn’t play soccer again until July, 20th. She started to slowly get back into it at that time but shooting with her left side still caused occasional pain. 

On August 10th, Ava went back on rest after slightly tweaking the injury. She did a turn really fast and that was all it took. The came on with specific movements, such as lifting her leg up (like high knees). It was then that we made the decision to take at least another two weeks off.

The Return

On the first day back to training, our main goal was to see how her movement was and if she felt any pain from the injury. She did some passing, touches, scrimmage, and a few free kicks with each foot. She had a little bit of discomfort when taking her first few left-footed shots but it dissipated as she continued. The first session went really well and we left the pitch feeling good about Ava’s recovery.

The next day Ava did resistance work and passing drills. She also did cone drills, and juggling, followed by a light scrimmage. She did not experience any pain. 

Looking Ahead

We plan for Ava to continue daily training sessions. She will do more stretching and warm-up exercises and have more variety in skills/drills performed. The number of free-kicks taken is going to be reduced. Before the injury, she would take about 100 free-kicks per day, if not more. She will still get plenty of shooting in, but less of the free kicks. We also plan to amp up the passing drills as she works to get game-ready.

As we move forward, we will continue to research about injury prevention and how to be safe while soccer training. Nothing is more important than our daughter’s health and well-being. 

Overall, training has been going great! Ava is looking excellent out there on the pitch! We are very excited about what’s to come!

For more details about Ava’s Training Program click here. Also, check out Ava’s Facebook page for more frequent updates.

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