CCSU Soccer Team Benefits from Farmington's Jewel

NEW BRITAIN – Three strikes and you’re out doesn’t correlate to soccer, but Jewel Robinson had every reason to trudge back to the dugout with acrimony.

She loomed as one of the top offensive threats in the state as a Farmington High sophomore when she tore the ACL and meniscus in her right knee.

A year later as she prepared to make up for lost time, she tore the ACL in her left knee.

As if that wasn’t quite enough for one player, she suffered a third ACL tear while playing indoor soccer after her senior season.

The knee buckled but she refused because confidence is at the heart of what makes Jewel Robinson special. She said she wasn’t going to let injury deflate her dreams and she’s followed through in the face of debilitating odds.

After enough hours of rehab to make it seem like a full-time job, Robinson has hit a home run. She’s battled through misfortune and won the role of starting central defender for the Central Connecticut State University women's team. In addition, she’s a sophomore captain.

“My love and passion for the game wanted me to play,” she said. “I wasn’t going to give up my dream to play Division I soccer. I had the support of my family, my friends and my coaches, so it’s not like I went through it by myself.”

Robinson received varsity playing time as a freshman on the Farmington team that won the Class L state championship in 2005. On Oct. 16, 2006, she suffered her first knee injury.

Surgery and rehabilitation ensued and by the following summer, Robinson was preparing for her junior year when she was clipped from behind and sustained a hyperextension of the left knee.

 “We recruited her after her second ACL surgery and we were pretty high on her,” said CCSU head coach Mick D’Arcy, after receiving a positive report from his assistant Jen Prozzo, one of Jewel’s youth soccer coaches.

“She came in with her mom. At the recruiting visit, we were five or 10 minutes into the conversation and I could have stopped and told you that she was the type of person I wanted in my program. She has so much positive energy, so much confidence.

“You need people like that in your program. Whatever gamble we had to take with her injuries was worth it.”

She reinjured the right knee the next spring while playing on the indoor turf at Farmington Sports Arena.

“I know a lot more information than I need to know about ACLs,” she cracked.

D’Arcy said, “She was worried but I told her to do her rehab and she came back strong.”

Prior to the third injury, she had the opportunity to train with the CCSU team and D’Arcy shifted her from her accustomed spot up front to a defensive right wing.

“Jewel’s prowess as a forward came from her athleticism,” said D’Arcy, a four-time Northeast Conference coach of the year who has compiled a 120-84-17 record in 11 years at Central while guiding the Blue Devils to the NCAA Tournament five times.

“She’s very fast. She’s not bulky strong, but she is very strong. She was able to muscle and run past girls in youth soccer but defenders in college are strong and athletic. It takes more nuances so I never thought she was an out-and-out forward.”

Robinson enjoyed the freedom at right back but her leadership capabilities lent themselves well to her position in front of the goalkeeper.

“You have to communicate a lot more,” she said. “It was definitely difficult at first but I’m used to it now. It was definitely a shock, being a sophomore, but I take it as a compliment.”

The resilience of going through three long rehabilitation campaigns hastened the growth of Robinson’s mental acuity, which rose above her considerable physical skill set to give her the qualities of a premier college player. The mental stress she incurred and conquered, D’Arcy says, contributes to her tenacity on the field.

“She’s blessed in a sense because she was just a phenomenal athlete right off the bat,” he said. “For some soccer players not as athletic, it’s a struggle to come back. She really believed with the mental part of it, too.

“She’s positive. She exudes energy. Her mental strength as well as her physical has helped her get through.”