Tony Schiappa was one of the top point producers and a captain on the men’s soccer team who won multiple awards and received several acknowledgements since his first season at Buffalo State.
He went into his senior year on top, but wasn’t able to play because of a season-long injury.
In his junior year, Schiappa suffered a sports hernia, which is a weakening of the muscles in the abdomen wall that requires surgery to fix with a recovery time of six to 12 months.
“Watching the game sitting on the sidelines and wanting to get into the game was probably the toughest part,” said Schiappa, a senior business administration major.
Before his injury, Schiappa was in the top three on the team in points and played a crucial part in the team’s chemistry. He was first in 2007, third in 2008 and second in 2009.
Any kind of injury that involves the groin area is especially bad for soccer players because of the constant kicking and moving of their feet throughout the entire game, head coach Rudy Pompert said.
A crucial setback arose in his recovery when he developed an infection from the first surgery that to be corrected with another surgery. This surgery was a success and allowed him to restart the rehab process.
After the surgeries, Schiappa began a rehabilitation process five days a week with both Buffalo State trainers and his local gym that required lots of different hip and groin strengthening exercises.
“They put you on a six-month regiment where you start off slow, loosening your hip and groin before moving into strengthening the muscles,” Schiappa said. “I swam and I did weights to strengthen it before doing bike and limbering exercises.”
Getting over the surgery was only half the work. Schiappa then had to progressively get back into soccer shape and regain the touch and skill he had before his injury.
“You could see a little bit that he had to find his rhythm,” Pompert said. “You don’t play a serious game for 20 months or so and that took him some time to get rolling again.”
Though Schiappa had to miss his senior season, he was able to receive a fifth year of eligibility from the NCAA that allowed him to play his final year of soccer this year.
When he returned to the team this fall, he jumped right back in where he started with his teammates and reestablished his previous connections.
“He can laugh at himself, crack jokes and be serious, too, because he wants to win,” Pompert said. “He has that right balance of making things light and being serious and that helped him get back in with the team.”
Senior forward Tom Karanas, who majors in criminal justice, said Schiappa had no problems fitting in with the team.
Schiappa finished the season with 15 points, which led the team.
“The team did a tremendous job getting me back to where I had to be and coaching me along the way,” Schiappa said.
Max Borsuk can be reached by email at bscrecord@gmail.com.