As dour as the 2010 Chicago Fire campaign was at times, a
few bright spots did shine through last season. One of those was the play of
rookie defender Steven Kinney, who emerged as the club’s starting right back
during the last third of the season.
The 2010 third round MLS SuperDraft selection appeared in 13
regular season matches and showed an impressive offensive acumen on set pieces
during his rookie campaign. Just as it seemed he locked down the starting role
going into the 2011 season, the Norcross, GA product tore his right Achilles in
the last match of 2010, a 4-1 win at Chivas USA.
He had surgery to repair the tear October 25 with the
recovery outlook being six-eight months. Having just passed the six month mark,
Kinney spoke Tuesday about his status.
“They said six months and I was hoping it would be five,”
Kinney explained. “With an injury like this, other parts of your body start to
overcompensate. The other main tendon in my leg started doing that and it’s set
me back a few weeks from the original target. Hopefully I’ll be able to get
back up and start running around the field, joining the guys and my fitness
soon.”
Kinney’s Achilles tear was the first that Fire Head Athletic
Trainer Bo Leonard has dealt with in his career.
“Everything that we’ve been doing from day one to this has
been new to me,” said Leonard. “Obviously it’s a different injury to have to
come back from, the Achilles tendon is a pretty thick, strong structure and
when you damage that, obviously the goal is to retain that strength so you’re
able to run, jump, kick – all the things you need to do to play soccer. It’s a
pretty debilitating injury and one that’s time consuming from the date of the
injury to actually stepping back on the field with everything you need to fully
participate.”
Given the long recovery timeline, complexity and the new
experience Leonard has had in dealing with the injury, I was interested to find
out what types of exercises he’s been working on with Kinney.
“Initially the most important part was to not stress the
area that was put back together through the surgery. You really need to spend a
large chunk of the acute phase just letting the tissue heal and scar over to
regain the strength so you can start applying forces to it, such as
strengthening and balance. At this point we’re just trying to build muscle mass
back into his calf because he lost a lot while he was immobilized. If you don’t
use that muscle tissue, your body will actually get rid of it. A lot of our
exercises have just focused on strength gain, balance and eccentric control of
his calf muscle.”
Despite the injury and the long layoff coming on the heels
of a very successful rookie year, Kinney has done well in dealing with not
being on the field this season according to Leonard.
“He’s done a really good job. With an injury like this you
go through a cycle of emotions – denial, then you’re upset, you start to get
depressed. Steve’s actually handled each stage really well. He’s come in
everyday with a great attitude ready to work, ready to do what he needs to do
for that day and knowing that the end result is for him to get back on the
field and helping the team win games.”
For Kinney, the most difficult part was perhaps Saturday’s
1-1 draw with Houston, watching from the stands as the Fire gave up an 83rd
minute equalizer, dropping two points in the process.
“It’s deflating,” Kinney said. “You see the way we played in
the first half and then some of the chances we had later on. When those don’t
go in it starts setting in on you that you have to get the result defensively.
When they scored it was so deflating and its difficult to not be in a position
to help the team in that way right now.”
As far as his road to recovery goes, Kinney says that he’s
getting very good at calf raises and before he starts running again, he’s
looking forward to, “tearing up that bike” very soon. He's targeting mid-June for a return to full training with thte team.
Jeff Crandall is the
Team Writer for the Chicago Fire. Follow him on Twitter @JefeCrandall.
