Jazmarie Mader is living proof that absence makes the heart grow fonder. When the Sun Devil soccer team opened the season on Aug. 18 in Tempe against Ohio State, the senior forward was feeling deep appreciation for her sport.
"I usually sit by myself in the locker room so I was just sitting there thinking, 'this is the moment you've been waiting for so long,'" Mader said. "I had so much energy; so much excitement that I was finally going to get to do this again."
Mader's junior season was cut short by a concussion that she initially suffered when a ball struck her head against Colorado on Oct. 2. The injury got much worse when she flew to Virginia less than a week later to attend her grandfather's funeral.
On the flight back to Arizona, Mader wasn't feeling right.
"My body wasn't telling me certain things that needed to happen like eating, so I hadn't eaten for a long time and I felt really weird on the plane; felt like I had to throw up," she said. "I stood up and walked to the bathroom and I started to put my hand on the wall. The next thing I remember is waking up on floor."
Mader had struck her head hard on the wall and floor as she fell after passing out. Flight attendants hovered over her and tried to put an oxygen mask on her. She had suffered a severe concussion and the fallout left her bed-ridden for three weeks with a nasty black eye and vision problems.
"My eyes de-calibrated so I had to go to eye therapy," she said. "I was trying to catch up on my schoolwork because I wanted to graduate in three years but I couldn't read for three and a half weeks."
Mader underwent vision therapy for two months and experienced intermittent moments of vertigo. When she was finally allowed outside, she had to sit in one corner of the field and watch her teammates because she couldn't turn her head much without feeling woozy.
The injury ended a promising season in which she had already scored eight goals in 12 games, fueling her frustration.
"It was literally terrible," she said. "All I wanted to do was support my teammates by watching them practice and being there for them and I couldn't."
Mader is symptom-free this season, she still earned her business degree in three years by taking summer courses, and she's eager to make up for lost time as she tries to learn first-year coach Graham Winkworth's possession style of play.
"She worked hard over the summer to get herself back in physical shape but I think she's still playing a little tentative," Winkworth said. "When you've been out with what she was out with it's going to take some time to get her confidence back."
Mader is also adjusting to having a second forward, freshman Olive Jones, playing alongside of her in a structure she says she prefers.
"I like the whole formation because it's more of a team effort," she said. "It's not one person trying to do everything. We have a really solid midfield and now having another person up top makes it better. If I just have to pull a person away from her to create chances I'm all for it."
At the same time, Winkworth wants Mader to be more aggressive with her own chances.
"She's definitely got the pace and the athletic ability and her right foot is pretty dangerous," Winkworth said. "It's funny. She's the opposite of some of our other players. Some of our players are needing to be more patient in the final third, but when she gets herself in a one-on-one situation I want her to go at people and I think she will as she plays more and more."
Mader had two goals and an assist in an exhibition win over Beijing Normal, and she had an assist in Friday's 2-1 overtime win at San Diego State. After spending 2½ weeks in Italy and Greece this summer, she's thinking about continuing her playing career after school in the European professional ranks, provided all goes well this season.
"I am just feeling excited to be out on the field again," she said. "This fall was like going off to college all over again as a freshman. After everything I went through, it's just made me appreciate it much more than I already did."
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"I usually sit by myself in the locker room so I was just sitting there thinking, 'this is the moment you've been waiting for so long,'" Mader said. "I had so much energy; so much excitement that I was finally going to get to do this again."
Mader's junior season was cut short by a concussion that she initially suffered when a ball struck her head against Colorado on Oct. 2. The injury got much worse when she flew to Virginia less than a week later to attend her grandfather's funeral.
On the flight back to Arizona, Mader wasn't feeling right.
"My body wasn't telling me certain things that needed to happen like eating, so I hadn't eaten for a long time and I felt really weird on the plane; felt like I had to throw up," she said. "I stood up and walked to the bathroom and I started to put my hand on the wall. The next thing I remember is waking up on floor."
Mader had struck her head hard on the wall and floor as she fell after passing out. Flight attendants hovered over her and tried to put an oxygen mask on her. She had suffered a severe concussion and the fallout left her bed-ridden for three weeks with a nasty black eye and vision problems.
"My eyes de-calibrated so I had to go to eye therapy," she said. "I was trying to catch up on my schoolwork because I wanted to graduate in three years but I couldn't read for three and a half weeks."
Mader underwent vision therapy for two months and experienced intermittent moments of vertigo. When she was finally allowed outside, she had to sit in one corner of the field and watch her teammates because she couldn't turn her head much without feeling woozy.
The injury ended a promising season in which she had already scored eight goals in 12 games, fueling her frustration.
"It was literally terrible," she said. "All I wanted to do was support my teammates by watching them practice and being there for them and I couldn't."
Mader is symptom-free this season, she still earned her business degree in three years by taking summer courses, and she's eager to make up for lost time as she tries to learn first-year coach Graham Winkworth's possession style of play.
"She worked hard over the summer to get herself back in physical shape but I think she's still playing a little tentative," Winkworth said. "When you've been out with what she was out with it's going to take some time to get her confidence back."
Mader is also adjusting to having a second forward, freshman Olive Jones, playing alongside of her in a structure she says she prefers.
"I like the whole formation because it's more of a team effort," she said. "It's not one person trying to do everything. We have a really solid midfield and now having another person up top makes it better. If I just have to pull a person away from her to create chances I'm all for it."
At the same time, Winkworth wants Mader to be more aggressive with her own chances.
"She's definitely got the pace and the athletic ability and her right foot is pretty dangerous," Winkworth said. "It's funny. She's the opposite of some of our other players. Some of our players are needing to be more patient in the final third, but when she gets herself in a one-on-one situation I want her to go at people and I think she will as she plays more and more."
Mader had two goals and an assist in an exhibition win over Beijing Normal, and she had an assist in Friday's 2-1 overtime win at San Diego State. After spending 2½ weeks in Italy and Greece this summer, she's thinking about continuing her playing career after school in the European professional ranks, provided all goes well this season.
"I am just feeling excited to be out on the field again," she said. "This fall was like going off to college all over again as a freshman. After everything I went through, it's just made me appreciate it much more than I already did."
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