Former US Army Grunt Fronts For Uni Games In Wellington

Former US Army Grunt Fronts For Uni Games In Wellington

Football is not the first choice team sport for American Adrian Martinez. Rugby is. And the All Blacks are her ultimate team.

But when the Massey Albany women’s football team kicked off for the first round of Uni Games 2012 pool play on Wednesday 11 at Wakefield Park in Wellington, the former US Army soldier was at sweeper.

How Martinez, veteran of an extended tour of duty in Iraq came to be in a New Zealand university soccer team (Americans call football ‘soccer’ too) after suffering a severe spinal injury, is quite some story.

From Rye, Colorado, the now 26-year-old BSc Sport & Exercise student joined the US military aged 18. Ten months later, she was injured after falling about three metres from a swing-landing trainer.

“A swing-landing trainer is for teaching soldiers how to jump out of airplanes. It’s so you know how to land properly after a parachute jump.”

Unfortunately, the young soldier didn’t land correctly after the drop. It wasn’t until her pelvis locked up following a four-mile run the next day that she was diagnosed with a broken pelvis and hospitalised.

Stationed in Alaska, Martinez a medic, was then sent to the city of Mosul in Iraq. In constant pain, she found herself confined to desk work, gaining around 40kgs in weight. It was while in Mosul that the young woman discovered she was suffering from grade-2 spondylolisthesis of the lumbar spine – a displacement of the vertebra.

The agony continued in 2006 when her tour was extended by four months in Baghdad.

“Iraq was hot and miserable, but I don’t think I would exchange the experience for the world. I made friends there I will never forget. And I lost friends there too. I was 19 when I went there. It still bothers me, and it’s still a struggle dealing with the memory of it.”

On returning to Alaska, and still in pain, Martinez was transferred to Texas, where she was told ‘to get it fixed or get out’. A medical discharge followed

Back home in Colorado, she eventually had her spine treated.

“Last January I met a surgeon who said he could fix my back. I took a leap of faith. Now, six screws, two rods and a cage around my vertebrae and here I am. I got back into shape and lost 36kgs. I feel better now than I have for the past 10 years.”

As for rugby, Martinez has been following the sport for the last eight years, and knew about New Zealand and its All Blacks. When it came to thinking further about her future, on a whim she checked out the cost of living and university courses in New Zealand.

Somehow it all matched up. Martinez made her decision, and arrived last year at Massey Albany in time for mid-year intake.

“I’m enjoying it immensely. “

As for team sports, rugby might be the sport & exercise student’s first love, but there’s still a back injury to consider.

“I tried roller derby…once, and then I thought ‘why not play soccer for Massey Albany women's team at the Uni Games’.”

The women’s football final will be played on Friday 13 at Wellington’s Wakefield Park at 12.40pm.

The Uni Games:

The premier sporting tournament for New Zealand universities, the Uni Games was first contested between tennis, athletics and debating in 1902. Now the event attracts more than 1000 participants competing in badminton, basketball, bowls, cricket, football, netball, touch, ultimate and volleyball.

One of the largest annual multi-sport events in New Zealand, this year’s ‘Wellywood Games’ sees nine teams competing for The Shield, first awarded in 1923. Headquarters for the games are at Kilbirnie’s ASB Sports Centre, with other venues around the city.

Uni Games 2012 teams: Auckland University, AUT, University of Canterbury, Lincoln University, Massey Albany, Otago University, Southern Institute of Technology, Victoria University of Wellington, Waikato University.

Otago University has the distinction of winning the historic Shield 35 times.

ENDS

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