It鈥檚 a long road back from ACL reconstruction 鈥� just ask fastball star Kevin Schellenberg.
Back in October 2013, Schellenberg tore his ACL and meniscus playing soccer and it put his fastball career in jeopardy.
Schellenberg, who has represented Canada four times on the world stage, was forced to miss the 2014 season to recover but he鈥檚 back for what should be a busy 2015.
He said it was a lengthy process to return to the diamond but the injury actually pushed him to work hard to come back.聽
鈥淚t was quite the long layoff to not play at that level,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd it was a huge commitment to push myself to not only come back from the injury but return to that level of play. I think the injury pushed me and it was my motivation to get healthy. I wanted to prove to myself that I could get back to that level after the injury.鈥�
Schellenberg couldn鈥檛 train for 14 months after the surgery but kept in contact with representatives from Team Canada. He then performed well at training camps to put together the team earlier this year.
鈥淚 was lucky enough to make the top 20 cut and then make both the 17-man cut for the International Softball Foundation Championships (ISF) and the 15-man roster for the Pan-Am Games (PAG),鈥� he said. 鈥淚 had two really good camps and was fortunate to be named to both teams.鈥�
The 34-year-old middle infielder will suit up for Canada for both the ISF Men鈥檚 World Championships starting on June 26 and the PAG running from July 11 to 18. An added bonus for Schellenberg is that both events occur in Canada, the ISF is in Saskatoon and the PAG is in Toronto.
鈥淚t鈥檒l be special to play in front of home fans and to have two huge events on home soil,鈥� he said.聽
He said he likes Canada鈥檚 chances at both events.聽
鈥淚 think we have a really good chance to win gold at both,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had success against the top teams.鈥�
Canada placed fifth at ISF the last time Schellenberg played on Canada鈥檚 team and he said defending champion New Zealand is the team to beat. He pointed out that top teams New Zealand and Australia are not going to the PAG, which could make for an easier path to the gold for Canada.
He said he鈥檚 not sure if he鈥檒l be starting but he just wants to win.
鈥淲e want to win gold at both events but I don鈥檛 think we鈥檒l be disappointed if we medal,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he end goal is gold but to come away without a medal would be a disappointment.鈥�
All of the ISF games will be streamed live at www.isfsoftball.org and Schellenberg said PAG medal game coverage will likely be on television. For more information on the team, visit www.softball.ca.聽
