Merrillville senior forward Joel Joseph calls it “a miracle.”
Joseph suffered a season-ending leg injury in August 2023, but he qualified for the state meet in the long jump nine months later and currently leads the boys soccer team with five goals.
“I thank God I’m back,” he said. “I prayed my tail off. I was blessed.
“I’m just very grateful to the coaches, doctors, my family, God for getting me through it, and my friends for checking up on me.”
Joseph said doctors told him that he would need a year to recover after surgery for a broken right tibia and fibula. He had a rod and four screws inserted in his leg. But he returned to sports “way ahead of schedule,” he said, and was able to compete during the indoor track season.
Merrillville boys soccer coach Brian Past, who is also an assistant in track, wasn’t necessarily surprised.
“You think of that short turnaround of months, it’s a tribute to him,” Past said of Joseph. “He put in the work to get better. He did so well in physical therapy, and he just had a great outlook.
“To his credit, I saw him down for three or four days after it happened, but he’s one of those eternal optimists. After the surgery, he was always looking at the positive side, and that positive outlook carried him through.”
Still, it was by no means easy for Joseph. His injury occurred during a game against Kankakee Valley on Aug. 26, 2023. He was racing for a ball sent over the top of the defense and collided with the Kougars’ goalkeeper. Two games earlier against Andrean, Joseph had broken through with his first goal.
“I was so thirsty to score, I didn’t care about anything else,” he said. “I didn’t see the goalkeeper come out, and he jumped up and missed the ball. The ball came, it was right in front of me, and I kicked it.
“The next thing I know, I was on my back. I was like, ‘What the heck just happened?’ I was in an extreme amount of pain.”
Simply walking was a challenge for Joseph after surgery.
“When I learned I had to relearn how to walk, I was like, ‘No, y’all are kidding. It’s probably just a pain thing,’” he said. “But, no, I genuinely forgot how to walk. It was so bad. It was like reliving my first steps.”
The steps continued as Joseph resumed light exercise in late November, and he was cleared for all activities except the long jump in late December. That final hurdle came just in time for the outdoor track season.
Joseph said his leg bothers him on occasion, including sometimes in cold weather, but he mostly tries not to think about it.
“It causes me pain here and there,” he said. “Sometimes during a workout, I feel heat. It kind of hurts. But besides that, it’s OK.”
It hasn’t prevented Joseph from excelling in both soccer and track. But even after Past watched Joseph succeed in the spring, Past wasn’t sure how things would go in soccer.
“The one thing I was concerned about being a forward, I knew physically he was fine, but I was worried about the mental side of him going for the ball when he knows there’s going to be contact,” Past said. “Is he going to shy away? And he doesn’t. It’s almost like he’s able to put that out of his brain.
“In a positive way, he’s one of our more physical players. I never have to tell him to go to the ball, pressure the defense, pressure the goalie. He’s always doing that.”
Senior midfielder Matthew Maldonado hasn’t noticed any post-injury drop-off from Joseph either. In fact, Maldonado believes Joseph has gotten better since last season.
“Coming back, I thought he’d be a little slower and a little off,” Maldonado said. “But he’s come back right away and shown a lot of improvement and more confidence — a lot of improvement.”
Joseph didn’t even start playing organized sports until joining the track team as a freshman. He didn’t start playing soccer until he was a sophomore.
“I really was introverted as a kid,” he said. “I liked sports. But I didn’t like it because I didn’t want to disappoint my family and friends, miss a catch or something. So I shied away from it.”
With no experience, Joseph said he did well in the soccer unit in gym class, and water polo got him thinking he could be a goalkeeper.
He and Past talked, and it didn’t take much conversation for Joseph to get on board.
Since joining the boys soccer program, Joseph has played virtually all over the field, beginning in goal before eventually landing up front. He has also had brief stints on defense and in the midfield.
“I’m willing to play any spot,” Joseph said. “You need me here? Bet, bet, bet. I’ll do my best. I’m here, I’m here with you, I can do it all. Whatever will help our team.”
Past described Joseph as “kind of our Swiss Army knife right now.”
“He’s the type of player, after a practice, he’s always asking how he can do better,” Past said. “He’s always searching. He’s trying to be the best player he can be.”
Merrillville (4-4-1, 2-2) has already matched its win total from each of the past two seasons and matched its most Duneland Athletic Conference wins since 2021. Joseph has taken pride in helping the Pirates raise their level.
“This entire school year, I want to be a leader,” Joseph said. “I want to be one who stands out. I want to be a strong reason why we’re winning and progressing. I want to leave a mark as I leave.”
Joseph has been making that sort of impact.
“Last year and especially this year, he’s been a big part of our offense, being a striker with his speed,” Maldonado said. “He’s jumping, too, getting headers. He’s really cool to be around and funny, always joking around. He’s a really happy guy. It’s a good attitude to have on the team.”
In track, Joseph wants to finish his Merrillville career on a high note. He’s glad he qualified for the state meet last season after winning a sectional title and finishing third in a regional. But he wants more. He’s targeting the program record in the long jump and a return trip to the state meet.
“I want to make it to state and win it,” he said. “I was there first, and now I want to win it, since I have time to build up my strength and didn’t have any setbacks.”
After the setback last year, Past thought Joseph had a chance to return late in the track season, shortly before the start of the postseason.
“Last year was devastating,” Past said. “At that point in time, I was crushed for him that not only is he one of my soccer players, but I also work with him in the high jump in track, and I thought, ‘Oh, my God, he’s just lost his junior year in two sports.’
“So mostly I’m just so pleased and happy that he’s able to really get a full season in his senior year and experience success.”
Joseph, who hopes to have a college opportunity in either soccer or track, plans to study computer science. His other activities include the drum line in the band and the National Honor Society.
“Good things in life come from working hard,” Joseph said. “It gets stressful here and there. But if you’re hungry and you have a plate, you can’t be upset when you have a full plate.
“You can get through anything.”