Parker Roberts’ triumphant comeback after an ACL injury and a two-year break is igniting Sporting JAX’s hopes for a championship in their debut season.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As Parker Roberts dashes across the field during a Sporting JAX practice, she seems perfectly at ease. However, reaching this point has been a challenging journey both mentally and physically, evidenced by the black leg sleeve she wears.
“The moment it happens, you feel it and hear it, and you immediately realize what’s occurred,” explained Parker Roberts, who plays as a defender for Sporting JAX.
This story continues below.
Roberts suffered an ACL tear during a preseason practice session in August.
“It was an incredibly emotional experience,” Roberts recounted.
Having recently decided to return to soccer after a two-year hiatus, the game was abruptly snatched from her grasp once more.
“You come back and you have kind of a new perspective on it and you’re so excited, like this is what it was supposed to be all along. And now that I’ve found it, I just want to embrace it and enjoy every moment, and something takes you off the field again,” Roberts said.
In 2022, after a five-year standout collegiate career at Kansas and Florida, playing time with the U.S. U-20 national team and two seasons with the NWSL’s Orlando Pride, Roberts hung up the cleats.
“I think I needed that time to learn more about myself,” Roberts said. “I’ve only ever been a soccer player. So much of my confidence before relied on soccer, relied on how valuable I was to a team and then I realized you can be a very valuable person, friend, daughter, sister and partner and they don’t care about just who you are on the soccer field.”
That newfound confidence proved pivotal to the vice captain’s recovery.
“I said, ‘Okay, if I was away for two years, I can get through this and come back and be even better than before,’” Roberts said.
And Roberts did get through it — rehabbing off to the side, running for the first time with her team there to cheer her on and then the return to the pitch on March 14 in Fort Lauderdale, after less than seven months of strengthening and three years since her last professional match.
“That day on the training field was hard for us all,” Sporting JAX head coach Stacey Balaam said. “You know it’s a devastating injury, it’s a psychological battle for any player to go through, but you know, just seeing the resilience in her and her character and how much she battled to come back. I’ve never seen anyone come back that quick, to be honest.”
While the defender was missing from most of Sporting JAX’s games this season, if it weren’t for a crazy chance encounter with assistant coach Alan Kirkup, she may have never been a part of their inaugural team in the first place.
“Alan was one of my coaches in college and my dad ran into him at a restaurant, and my dad was just like, ‘You should give him a call,’ and then it just kind of unfolded from there,” Roberts said.
“We were looking for that key center back for us to fill on the backline and help us and it just so happened that he walked into that restaurant that day and bumped into them for the first time in a long time,” Balaam said. “I think it was just meant to happen.”
Perfect timing for a player who took her time deciding it was time to make a comeback, and then had to wait some more time for her moment.
Roberts’ return has been a massive boost to the squad, who in their inaugural season are eyeing the Gainbridge Super League title.
Sporting JAX kicks off the playoffs on Sunday, May 24, at 5 p.m. when they host Carolina Ascent — the team that beat them on Saturday to ruin their chances of a regular-season title.
