After two surgeries and being told to hang up her cleats, Jordan Bartlow is back on the field for CWU after 660 days. Bartlow suffered a back injury early in 2023 but recently got cleared by doctors to return to the field this summer. In Bartlow’s first game back in more than 650 days, she scored a goal against California State Monterey Bay to lead the Wildcats to a 1-0 victory in the first game of the season. Currently, Bartlow leads the team in goals this season with two goals in six games and boasts one of the highest on field times for the team.
The 5 foot 3 inch midfielder from Arlington, Washington had missed the entire 2023 season due to injury and only recently returned to the women’s soccer team last month. Bartlow had one of the discs in her spine pushing into one of her nerves causing pain to shoot down her legs. In April 2023, Bartlow got surgery to open room in her vertebrae for nerves to go through.
In her attempt to return to the field, she reinjured herself before the season, causing the disc to slip out and get tangled into her nerves. Bartlow needed another surgery in October of that year that would take a lot longer to recover from than the first surgery. Bartlow started getting back to soccer in late spring of 2024 when doctor’s cleared her for mild contact and finally in the summer, she got fully cleared to play.
It wasn’t an easy recovery though, as Bartlow had to deal with both mental and physical struggles. “I was pretty much in bed rest for about 7-10 days,” Bartlow said. “The first couple days I was very slow moving because I had drains that were very painful so it made my muscle uncomfortable.”
Bartlow described her recovery process, how she went through a 6-8 week walking program, started physical therapy and started running in March of 2024 before returning to team practices in April. This being almost a year after her first surgery.
It wasn’t just physical recovery Bartlow had to go through. After her second surgery, her doctor was not on board with her playing anymore. “It was a lot to take in but I did what I could to get healthy,” Bartlow said. “I still have a fear that lingers in the back of my mind before games that sometimes that fear I will not be able to achieve what I could before.” Despite this, she still worked to get back to the field, receiving support from her teammates, coaches and trainers.
Throughout her time off the field, she also worked on becoming a better leader. Bartlow explained how she had to start learning other ways to help her team since she couldn’t be on the field.
Whether it was carrying water for a teammate, challenging and encouraging them in practice, getting the team in the right headspace or even just giving a hug to a teammate that needed it, Bartlow learned more ways to become a leader for this team. “I learned so much about my teammates and the game that I’m almost thankful that I was in a position to learn all of this.” Bartlow said.
The coach for the women’s soccer team, coach Lindley Lee described what she saw through Bartlow’s recovery process and the presence Bartlow brings to the team. “She spent time and energy learning about her voice and leadership style, and I think it had drastically impacted her ability to lead now on the field for us now as a Captain,” Lee said. “Not to mention she is a fierce competitor and has a nose for the goal. We are so grateful for her to be back on and off the field.”
The Wildcats are currently 1-3-3 starting out the year. They will hope to capture their 2nd win of the season at home against Western Washington on October 10. After, they will have a 3 game stretch at home against Simon Fraser, Western Oregon, and Northwest Nazarene respectively.
