HIGH ACHIEVERS: Para soccer captain Samuel Charron experiences tough times with injuries

By Martin Cleary

If his plan had unfolded as he had wished, Samuel Charron would be in Melbourne, Australia, today practising with the Westside Strikers of the State League Division 4 West, which is the eighth level of professional soccer in the Victoria region.

But Ottawa’s top para soccer player and the national team captain has been going through a stretch of ‘tough’ luck in the last few months.

He wasn’t able to fly halfway around the world to continue to develop his 11-a-side soccer game with the Strikers because he suffered his second major injury in three months during an indoor game.

In early January, he was competing in a weekend game and his left Achilles tendon suddenly snapped. He had surgery on Jan. 19 and is on the sidelines recuperating with physiotherapy and training.

During the Parapan-American Games last fall in Santiago, Chile, Charron pulled a hamstring in the third game. The key player on the team, he received intense physiotherapy and managed to take the field for Canada’s sixth and final game, which turned out to be the team’s sixth consecutive loss, a narrow 2-1 loss to Chile for fifth place.

Charron, 25, used the word ‘tough’ multiple times in a recent phone interview to describe the various challenges he has had to face in the past three months.

But the 25-year-old multi-positional player is showing his athletic and personal toughness as he progresses through his recovery.

“I play regularly on Sundays and halfway through the game, my Achilles tendon exploded on me,” explained Charron, who has been on the para national team for 11 years and has captained the Ottawa TFC Soccer Club men’s premier team. “It felt like someone had kicked me in the back of the leg. I asked the ref if someone had kicked me and he said there was no one behind me.

“I didn’t know I had torn it. I had driven to the game so I had to drive home. I took a day or two before I went to physio to see what she would say. She touched it … and got a second opinion. I needed to go to the (hospital) E.R.

“I saw a doctor, had an ultrasound and within 30 seconds he showed me my Achilles was torn. That was kind of tough to hear.”

The unexpected injury happened two weeks before he was scheduled to fly to Australia for the start of the 2024 season this month. When he joined the Strikers last year, he signed a contract late in the season and only played five games, but he played all 90 minutes of each game and earned one assist.

“That’s the tough part mentally,” he explained. “I’m missing basically the whole season. I needed surgery. There was nothing I could do. It was kind of tough to swallow.

“But the plan is to get myself back for the national-team tournament and the (sixth International Federation of Cerebral Palsy) World Cup in November.”

For the past three weeks, Charron has become familiar with wearing a protective boot on his foot and relying on family and friends to attend physio appointments. A full recovery should take six months.

“It’s a lot of learning and how to do the fitness things I took for granted,” added the former St. Francis Xavier University X-Men varsity soccer player. “I rely on other people and they (family and friends) are world class.

“It’s tough when you can’t do much and have to rely on other people. At a certain point, you feel like you are a burden to them. It’s a bit tough that way as I want to do things.”

His string of tough luck started in mid November in Santiago. Since the national players are spread across the country and funding is limited, the team has little time to practice together.

Playing against the South American and United States teams, which have more complete cerebral palsy seven-a-side soccer programs, Canada was at a distinct disadvantage.

“We appreciate the support from our federation, but it’s hard to get together. We don’t train together,” he said. “I’ve been on the team 11 years and I’m seeing the players grow. The tough part is not getting together.”

Charron scored Canada’s only goal in each of the first two losses and then pulled a hamstring in the third game.

“The plan was to get me fit to play the last game because it was an important game,” he said. “We usually bring our own physios to our games, but because we were part of Team Canada, they had their own physios and a lot more equipment.

“I had acupuncture and four days of treatments on my hamstring to help me be fit for the final game. It was tough when you are used to playing a lot and have to stand on the sidelines (for games four and five).”

That scenario repeated itself last month, when Charron would watch his indoor team play, after his Achilles injury and surgery.

“It was tough to watch. The surgeon said there will be a time to feel sorry for yourself, but don’t let it drag on too long. And there’s a time for rehabilitation. I’m in the time for rehabilitation, now.”

But as much as Charron has experienced a number of ‘tough’ moments, there have been some positive times to soothe his soul.

During the Parapan-Am Games, he scored his 50th career goal and left the multi-sport festival with a career 51 goals in 50 international games. He is only the second Canadian para soccer player to score 50 goals in a career.

He also is looking forward to the International Federation of Cerebral Palsy World Cup in Salou, Spain, on Nov. 5-24. Canada finished ninth in the 2022 World Cup.

At the end of the 2023 season, Canada Soccer named Charron its Para Soccer Player of the Year for the fourth time. Charron also was named the country’s best in 2016, 2019 and 2022.

“It was surreal. I wasn’t sure I would get it. I’m honoured,” a humble Charron added. “Soccer is a team sport and as much as I got the individual award, I would trade it for a higher result (in Santiago) and see the team do better. But it’s always nice to get recognized.”

And it wasn’t ‘tough’ to talk about that special award.