Gonzaga student manager Robbie Meehan still following passion for soccer
SPOKANE, Wash. (BVM) —聽Robbie Meehan has been around soccer for as long as he can remember. However, his journey in the sport is not like most. While former players can often find similar passion in coaching, it does not usually happen at a young age.
Meehan grew up in Santa Clarita, California, and took up baseball and soccer as his main sports. However, soccer was always a bit more of his bigger focus, and in high school he chose to only play soccer.
Meehan always had lingering hip problems growing up, but a specific semifinal game of a tournament when he was about 13 years old brought things to light.
鈥淚 remember I received the ball, took a step, and just felt it pop,鈥� Meehan said. 鈥淚 just went straight down and started yelling and grabbing my hip.鈥�
While the injury took Meehan out for the rest of the tournament, it did not derail his soccer career. Doctors had failed to diagnose exactly what was wrong with him, pointing to things like a weak hamstring, which led to Meehan to continue playing every year. During the offseason in the summer, he would go to physical therapy, despite not much success. As the season progressed, his hips continued to bother him and the continued physical therapy was not helping, but he kept going, soccer was his passion and he was going to see it through.
Despite being recruited by some universities, Meehan chose to attend junior college to start his collegiate career.
鈥淚 was very tiny; some of the advice from coaches was to stay back, get a little stronger, get a little bigger, and then they would look at me in a little bit,鈥� Meehan said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 eat as much, I was running every day, so I was skinny. And then, I was not really mentally ready to go off to school, and I wanted to work a little longer back home.鈥�
Unfortunately for Meehan, his collegiate playing days were short in numbers after a game in which he found out the true extent of his true hip injury.
鈥淚t was during one game where there was just a lot of running,鈥� Meehan said. 鈥淭here was not a specific time it happened, but I got home and I just could not walk. My mom was getting angry at me and telling me we needed to go to the doctor, but I told her I was fine, and then I tried to walk up the stairs and could not. She said that we were going to the doctors and I was kind of like, 鈥楩ine mom, whatever.鈥� So I had kind of just accepted it because I knew it got to a point where I could not play anymore.鈥�
It was during that trip to the doctor where Meehan got an MRI telling him the severity of the injury. Meehan was diagnosed with a birth defect in both hips, a hip impingement. Effectively, every time he ran or kicked, the cartilage in his hips would get shredded, causing continual tears in the labrum. Fixing this ailment requires surgery, something Meehan has gotten in his right hip, but not the left yet.聽
However, the surgery effectively ended his playing career. While he could have in theory continued to keep playing after being told it was possible, the recovery time for the surgery was about four months. Meehan would have needed to commit another year to the junior college as he was getting ready to transfer.
鈥淟ife was just moving so quickly that I just thought, 鈥業鈥檒l kind of bite the bullet and move on,鈥欌�� Meehan said. 鈥淓ven though I really didn鈥檛 want to, it was kind of just one of those things, it was just a decision I had to make, I still feel pain for it.鈥�
Meehan ended up transferring to Gonzaga as a sports management major. He felt a bit detached from soccer, though in the last year he spent not playing in California, he had reached out to a former coach so that he could help coach younger kids. For a year, he did not have any real connection to the game, but in his senior year at Gonzaga, he had an opportunity.聽
A requirement for a sports management degree at Gonzaga is an internship in the sports field for two semesters. Meehan reached out to the head coach of Gonzaga鈥檚 men鈥檚 soccer team at the time, Paul Meehan, to see if there was an opportunity to work for the team. Paul brought him on as the student manager.
鈥淚 just missed it,鈥� Robbie said. 鈥淚 would always walk by and see them practice out there. I鈥檝e played soccer my whole life, I鈥檝e been on the field my whole life, all my friends back home play soccer, whenever I鈥檓 back home I play, whenever I鈥檓 out here, I miss it. And I鈥檝e always wanted to be a part of the team because that was my dream since I was a little kid, to be a part of a collegiate team. Even though I could not play, I want to be on the field, anything I can do to help out.鈥�
Robbie graduated from Gonzaga in 2021, but 丑别鈥檚 currently attending law school at the university, about halfway done with his two-year program. Despite a heavier workload, Robbie is committed to being the student manager and next season will mark his third year in the position.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just such a big stress relief for me, just being on a field,鈥� Robbie said. 鈥淓ven though I am not doing anything, just watching it really helps. The smell of the turf or grass, the sounds of it, I don鈥檛 know what it is, it just relaxes me and makes me feel at home.鈥�
With only one more season as the team鈥檚 student manager, Meehan is going to make the most of the opportunity. He is unsure what the future will hold, but after law school, he would love to work in contracts for a professional sports team. Soccer has been the biggest part of 搁辞产产颈别鈥檚 life for a very long time, and despite the fact that he can no longer play the sport he loves, he continues to find ways to stay involved.
