Barcelona Rewind

There were numerous unique sights on the Cowgirls soccer trip to Barcelona. Along with the monastery of Montserrat and the Salvador Dali museum, there was Amy Kuykendall, a fifth year senior. Amy is unique because she made her second international tour in her time at Hardin-Simmons University. NCAA rules allow teams to make a foreign tour once every three years, which means a student-athlete only has the chance to make the trip once. Amy was a sophomore when she suffered an ACL injury in the fourth game of the year. The injury occurred after a stellar freshman season, and the Cowgirls had gone on their international tour in 2007. Since the injury occurred before the end of the first half of the season, she was able to receive a hardship waiver from the NCAA, which gave her another season of eligibility.

“At the time of the injury all of my friends were saying that at least you can make another foreign tour.” Amy mentioned to me as we walked around Gaudi’s Park Guell. “Back then another trip did not seem like that big a deal as I was trying to recover from my injury. Now it certainly seems worth the wait.”

And while many student-athletes have overcome an ACL injury, the rehab process brings out more uniqueness to Amy’s story.

“Amy had the chance to demolish numerous scoring records before the injury,” stated Head Coach Marcus Wood. “The amazing thing to me is that I have never heard her complain about the injury and how it impacted her career. Because of that I have so much respect for her character.”

It’s fairly remarkable for an individual to know that if they had stayed healthy, they could have rewritten the record books. Even more remarkable? Not to complain to your coach and team about your injury. To have the character and resolve to deal with a setback and not use it as an excuse is a trait to be admired. Many of us are quick to blame events beyond our control when the world does not appear as we want it to. I even blamed the paper cut on my finger for the microwave burning my popcorn last night.

The art experts say that Gaudi’s work was under appreciated when he was in the process of creating many of his architectural achievements. We have another year to appreciate Amy’s work on the field. She has already given us a masterpiece when it comes to appreciating the value of good character.

Cowboy Up,

John Neese

Barcelona, Spain, 2010 Ipod Mix

1. Holiday in Spain, Counting Crows
2. St. Agnes and the Burning Train, Sting
(None of my friends believe this is Sting when they hear it.)
3. Spanish Horses, Aztec Camera
4. Chico Groove, Gustavo Santaolalla
5. Low Rider, War
6. Looking for Paradise, Alejandro Sanz and Alicia Keys
7. Spanish Bombs, The Clash
(How many punk bands wrote a song about the Spanish Civil War?
Just another reason why I will always love The Clash)
8. Teatro, Willie Nelson
9. Spanish Rose, Van Morrison
10. Big Brother, The Stephanie Wremble Trio
11. Tout Le Monde, Carla Bruni
12. Asturias, Juan Quesada
13. Spanish Caravan, The Doors
14. Dicen Que la Han Visto, Alberto Inglesias
15. The Pan Piper, Miles Davis & Gil Evans from Sketches of Spain