Knocked down several times, Trine Women’s Hockey player Sara Martino keeps getting back up

Published: Feb. 6, 2022 at 12:52 AM EST
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FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Fort Wayne’s NBC) - Trine Women’s Hockey player Sara Martino has dealt with many setbacks over her career, but she continues to fight her way back on the ice.

It all started when Martino was 11-years-old. Her dad who is a scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs ran a youth hockey program in Lake Forest, Illinois. Martino says she played in a boys hockey league growing up with her younger brother. She didn’t want to do it at first, but then she fell in love with it.

“I just made a lot of good friends on the team especially when I was younger. It was just something really looking forward to being on the ice with them. It wasn’t so much about the games and practices it was more so seeing my teammates and seeing my friends,” Martino said.

Martino played in a boys hockey league until her junior year of high school. She also played for Team Illinois, traveling all over the country to pad up and skate.

“I thought that was really cool and then loving the game itself came along with that,” Martino said.

Trine Head coach Tom Hofman noticed her talent and recruited her.

“She just stands out. You can see it when she is out on the ice. She has just a different level. Her attitude is great, she’s always smiling,” he said.

Not only that, she’s coachable.

“If you have some critique for her she’s always looking you in the eye and ‘yes, no problem, I’ll try that next time.” It’s so refreshing when you have someone who wants to learn, who wants to get better, who takes criticism very easily. Those are the coaching dreams,” he said.

Hockey can be tough and Martino knows that all too well. She suffered her first concussion in 7th grade.

“I just remember getting hit and being like very confused and dazed and he slammed his stick into my head and I just knew it and instantly my head hurt,” Martino says.

She went through a similar hit in high school and then again during her freshman year at Trine.

“I kind of got hit in the front of the net and it was actually right around this spot and I’ve had this feeling before so I knew it was a concussion and I went to my athletic trainer right away and I was like dang that is number three,” she said.

Then, on November 24th, Martino was diagnosed with her fourth concussion.

“It was scary because I actually lost my vision for like three or four seconds. I could hear everything but I couldn’t see anything,” she said.

She walked through what she remembered with Fort Wayne’s NBC News Reporter Vince Lovergine.

“I was sitting on the ice and I was actually right by the benches when it happened. I could hear coach Tom and other teammates saying... ‘Sara c’mon, get up get up.’ I could hear them but I couldn’t see anything so I was scared to stand up. Once I did get it back it was very blurry and I was like kind of dazed and just very out of it,” she said.

Martino says this concussion kept her out the longest.

“I felt like I was pushing myself further and further back and that was really frustrating and kind of sad and not knowing what I could do to help myself,” she said.

She told Fort Wayne’s NBC News, she didn’t know if she’d ever compete again.

“It was a very scary like oh no like is this the end like do I have to call it quits here,” Martino said.

But two months later, she returned to the ice, passing the puck and out skating again. However, Martino is well aware of the fact that if she takes another hit to her head, she’ll have to hang up her jersey for good.

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