Stephanie Cox lost something precious and then gained it back, adding even more meaning to her upcoming trip to China with the U.S. Women's National soccer team.
For 10 days early last month, the former Elk Grove High School star thought she'd missed her chance to compete in the Beijing Olympic Games. New head coach Pia Sundhage didn't include Cox on the 21-player roster heading to South Korea for the Peace Queen Cup, a tuneup for the Olympics.
But when U.S. defender Cat Whitehill suffered a knee injury June 12, Cox was summoned to South Korea, and played well enough to earn a spot on the 18-player Olympic roster.
Cox's sigh of relief? Massive.
"It's been a crazy roller coaster," she said. "It's been a huge lesson for me. I know I haven't really had much setback in my athletic career.
"It really makes you see how much you value your teammates and people around you. … I value the opportunity I do have even more.
"I was just so happy I could go back to South Korea and make the most of it."
Cox, known as Stephanie Lopez before marrying Brian Cox last December, was the youngest player on the U.S. team that finished third in the FIFA Women's World Cup last September in China.
But the talented defender didn't make a good enough impression on Sundhage, who replaced Greg Ryan as the national team coach in October, in a training camp that ended in early June.
Read the full article: A second chance
