The worst part of any major injury is usually not the incident itself; it’s the time it takes to get back to full fitness. For MNUFC defender Bakaye Dibassy, the road to recovery has been long and arduous. 10 months is a long time to be sidelined from anything, let alone the sport you live and breathe.
During last season’s home match against Houston Dynamo on August 27, Dibassy suffered a ruptured quadricep tendon in his right leg. The injury forced him to miss out on the remainder of the 2022 season as well as the first half of the 2023 season, but the light at the end of the tunnel is growing brighter with each passing day.
With his return to action drawing closer and closer, Dibassy recently took some time to reflect on all of the preparation and discipline that have gone into his recovery process from the very beginning.
“I got injured at the end of the season, but I stayed just after my surgery,” he said. “I was coming into the facility almost every day to do my treatment. As I said, it was the end of the season, so I went back to France eventually. Once I got there, we had the plan to go to the French National Team center. They’re the rehab center over there. So I was there with other players who play in Ligue 1 or different leagues and other injured players. So it was nice to be around them, around each other, to help each other because everybody was struggling a little bit and talking to each other, helping each other out.”
The demands of properly recovering from an injury are just as strenuous as regular training. However, the format is vastly different, forcing players to take things slow and focus intensely on the minute details of their every movement. With the help of the rehab center and the training staff here in Minnesota, Dibassy has had plenty of professional help to expedite the healing process.
“It was tough mentally, but I have people with me,” he said. “They helped me in the gym, and from the owner to staff members, everybody was texting me. And, you know, I’ve got support. I think it's a good thing for me.”
No matter how quickly your body heals, the mind is a different beast. For professional athletes who have played the game their entire lives, time away from the sport can be incredibly mentally draining. For Bakaye, the first steps back on the pitch were extremely rewarding.
“It was like freedom,” he said. “To just get back to work on the field, on the ball, even if sometimes it was only like 10 minutes with the ball and just running for the rest. I remember the guys were clapping for me to get back on the field and making jokes. It's been really nice because I really missed playing, and I’ve done it since I was young. I was lucky; I never had a big injury. I'm used to playing, and I'm used to being on the field.”
With his training regimen scaling back up to full shifts, it won’t be long before MNUFC fans get to see the Mali international back on the field for the Loons. Dibassy’s return gives the team quality depth and options across the backline, as well as a wealth of experience that few members of the squad can match.
When called upon, Bakaye has shown an ability to play left back and center back at a high level. More importantly, he offers another voice of leadership to a team looking to make a playoff push in the second half of the season.
“The guys can count on me,” Dibassy said. “I like to give them some advice. I like to talk because I talk a lot on the field. It's my natural, sometimes good, sometimes it's bad. But I talk a lot on the field. They know they can count on me on the field during the game.”
The Loons are about to enter yet another busy stretch of the season, bringing a need for squad rotation and plenty of chances for Dibassy to return to action. Be sure to tune in to MNUFC’s match against Real Salt Lake this Saturday at 8:30 p.m. CT for a chance to see the end of his road to recovery.
