When I Got Kicked in the Ear

I played street hockey and ice hockey goaltender many years and I wasn't worried much when a puck came 70 miles an hours to my glove or blocker, but in senior year, I would become JV Soccer Goaltender in 1996 on my High School Team and then for a few days I would have my fears come true. I would get kicked in the ear in a soccer game.

Now, I had to have been the world's worst goaltender. I let up more goals in soccer then there were goals on my team, but in the heat of the battle I got kicked in the ear and head by my own teammate in a game.

The play was coming they were coming down. My team was defending and I was getting into the game. I went as I usually did trying to cover the soccer ball and next thing I know. WHAM! BOOM! I'm seeing stars. Then the throbbing pain settled in my ear and settled in the side of my head. I don't know, I may have been unconscious for a brief minute, but I know that my ear was throbbing and I needed to ice it.

I was pulled from the game and I had ice on my head or at least I don't even remember if I stayed in the game or not, it was a blur to me. All I remember was bits and pieces and I remember the ride home on the bus with an ice pack on my ear. It wasn't pleasant.

I took off of school that day not going to not go to practice. And the time sports psychology wasn't where it is today. You were told to shake it off and go to practice. They didn't take into account there may be PTSD from the event. School are more prone to that today. In my day in age we were told to shake it off, it was only until they did research with head trauma during sports where Chris Nowitzki formerly of the WWE was involved with the research. Now they take brain trauma seriously. I don't blame my school because they didn't know the best course of action like they do now. Now they are prepared for it.

All I knew was that I needed to have a day off and not go in net and rest for the weekend. In other words I was traumatized by the event and I knew what I needed to do and take the weekend off and regroup to get back at it again.

Later on that day after I got kicked in the ear, I attended my only football game for the school as a spectator. I attended the Homecoming Game. I felt weird being there. In case my teammate caught me there after being off from school and missing practice. And even one member of the team who caught me there said I wasn't supposed to be there if I missed practice. They thought I may have been faking it, but I was injured not necessarily with the ear so much because it was going away, but mentally. It is like a warrior going into battle and then getting shell shocked. I experienced something like this.

If it's one thing I will say is I had the utmost respect for my teammates they took me in. They were like family to me for that season. They always pushed me to get out of my shell and they were very supportive. They always felt of me as their mascot even though they didn't really have one that year. They knew I would help be supportive of them as they could to even if I didn't have my confidence as I do now. This will be a story for another day. All I know getting kicked in the ear by a cleat is never fun.