Bad back? No problem

Canterbury's Kris Goddard overcame an injury and is the Pinellas County player of the year.

By RODNEY PAGE

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 24, 2000

Kris Goddard couldn't feel his leg.

One minute, he was sitting around his father's Denver home during the Christmas holidays, the next he was in a full-scale panic.

He was rushed to a local hospital, where it was determined a cyst on one of his lower vertebrae was cutting off a nerve to his right leg. Goddard and his mother, Althea, flew back to St. Petersburg, and on Christmas Eve, Goddard underwent surgery at Tampa General. "Nice way to spend the holidays, huh?" Goddard said.

This was not the first time Goddard's back almost ended his promising tennis career.

In October of 1998, he suffered a stress fracture in his back and also had to undergo surgery. He had titanium placed in his lower back to add strength.

He managed to play through the pain during his junior year as Canterbury's No. 2 player. He was the Crusaders' No. 1 player this season, but after only a few matches, he was sidelined with the back injury.

However, Goddard still finished 13-2, reached the state tournament and is the Times Pinellas County Player of the Year.

"After the first (surgery), I didn't know if I'd play again," Goddard said. "The surgery was supposed to take about three hours, and it took nine hours. It was hard to get back on the court. Then to have it happen again was scary."

How Goddard ended up in St. Petersburg is another interesting story.

A tennis prodigy in Colorado, Goddard heard about Billy Stearns, who had a camp in St. Petersburg. In the summer prior to his eighth-grade year, the Goddards took a trip to St. Petersburg so Kris could train with Stearns.

Kris liked the camp and the city so much that he and his mother rented a townhome in Placido Bayou so Kris could attend Canterbury and remain with Stearns. Kris' father, Bill, is an advertising executive with television station KMGH in Denver, and he still lives in Colorado.

"All my friends are here, so I consider this home," Goddard said. "I still go back every summer and on holidays. My mom will go back once I graduate."

Stearns no longer is in the area, so Goddard now trains with Hans Gallauer at the Vinoy Country Club.

His career nearly ended twice by back injuries, Goddard emerged as one of the top players in the state despite almost missing the season.

He lost his first match after returning from the injury but didn't lose again until the Class A overall final to Justin Kinney of Delray Beach American Heritage. Goddard won the individual state championship but fell 7-5, 7-5 to Kinney for the overall title.

"After everything that's happened, I'd say it was a good year," Goddard said. "I was up 5-2 in the first set, but I couldn't put him away. It was a great match."

Goddard will attend Brown next fall, where he will play tennis. He says his back is fine, but he knows down the road, he might have to undergo surgery again.

"The doctors said in another five years or so, I may have to go in again," Goddard said. "Because of the surgery, there's some stress on another vertebra.

"Oh well, I've done it before."

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