SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – For Arjan Dosanjh, the road to success has been quite the journey. A senior forward on the men's soccer team, the Sacramento native has experienced his share of bumps and bruises, including a pair of unlucky injuries during his collegiate career at USF.
 
Currently sitting tied for third on the team with three total goals this fall, Dosanjh has returned to the Hilltop with vengeance as he has served as a leader both on and off the field for the green and gold this year.
 
Recently, Chris Fortney, USF's Assistant Athletics Director for Communications and Content, sat down with Dosanjh to talk in-depth about his path to becoming a Don as well as his rollercoaster experience on the Hilltop.
 
[Chris]: "Talk to me about what attracted you from high school to USF first off and what brought you here…"
 
[Arjan]: "In high school I was at the Barca academy in Casa Grande so I was playing academy 
and Coach Leonard reached out… He had just become the head coach here at USF and he reached out and asked if I wanted to be a part of his freshman recruiting class and I said okay. They came out to watch me a couple of times to, I was having a pretty good season that year too and so as soon as Coach Leonard reached out, I basically committed within a couple of weeks." 
 
[Chris]: "What attracted you to USF versus anywhere else?" 
 
[Arjan]: "I'm from Sacramento, so I feel like it's the perfect distance from home. My sister was 
going here at the time as well and she really loved it, so that kind of attracted me here too. Also, Coach Leonard and I was really interested in his style of play and what he had to offer."
 
[Chris]: "So obviously you had a couple of tough injuries, can you just talk me through those and what happened?"
 
[Arjan]: "Right, so freshman year I was having really bad achilles pain when I got here during 
preseason, so I had to medical redshirt my freshman year. I was in a boot all of my freshman year I didn't really play much. Fast forward to sophomore year, I was getting hot chocolate with girlfriend on election night, November 3^rd, and I was riding my electric scooter through an intersection when a car ran a stop sign and just teed me up from the side going about 40 miles an hour. I just remember getting hit, flying over the windshield and denting the windshield and then flipping over the car and hitting everything on the asphalt. Yeah, and then next thing you know the ambulance was there." 
 
[Chris]: "Did you break anything or what happened?"
 
[Arjan]: "My knees were really torn, I had a black eye, I had a fractured nose, I was missing 
half my eyebrow…I had really bad face lacerations and I couldn't walk for maybe a month. I was on crutches because my knees were super swollen from hitting the road and on top of that it was a hit and run, so the guy just took off right after. I remember we were in the hospital that night and it was during covid, so our season was in the spring and I just wasn't fully 100% for the spring season either, so I ended up sitting out a lot of that season."
 
[Chris]: "That happened in Sacramento or?"
 
[Arjan]: "San Francisco…Yeah and then I just worked with our trainer that the time and did rehab for my knees and stuff… finally got back to playing and training but didn't really see much game time that year." 
 
[Chris]: "And you mentioned injuring your ACL as well?"
 
[Arjan]: "Yeah, so the year Coach Brown came in I was working really hard over summer I was 
playing with a summer team and was getting a lot of game minutes, which is what I needed at the time. I came in 100% fit, the most fit I've come into a preseason, it was looking to be a good year. We played San Jose State our first game, I had a goal…and then we played Cal the second game, had another goal… I also had a double nut meg that went viral and it was looking like a really good season. Then come UCSB, probably the fourth game of the season, I went in and just tore my ACL… it was a freak accident. I was cutting to defend somebody and just heard a pop and instantly felt a lot of pain in my knee and just went down. At the time, I knew something was up… like you know you feel the pop and you hear it… I knew it was my ACL…so yeah, I ended up tearing my ACL, got an MRI and then was out for the rest of my junior year. It was just a really big blow because that was the year I felt I was getting really good game time. I felt probably at my peak during that time and then tearing your ACL, it's a huge blow. I got surgery a month later and just went through a lot of rehab with Morgan (Batcheller) after that."
 
[Chris]: "Walk me through the rehab process just a little bit…"
 
[Arjan]: "The rehab process was long but you know, I wouldn't be able to have been going 
through it without Morgan, the coaches, my family and the teammates. They were all really supportive. You know everybody says that rehab takes a long time, but I feel like it flew by. Each day you're looking forward to something knew, whether it's walking normal, losing the limp or running… even just little things like getting full flexion in the knee or just bending it or whatever, but it flew by for me. I'm just glad I had a really good support system with the guys and the coaches just checking in on me, they really made it easy. I spent those 9 months super sore whether it was a lifting with Matt (Ward) or rehab with Morgan." 
 
[Chris]: "You mentioned Coach Griffin brought you here, but Coach Brown kind of took over in the middle of things. How has that transition been? How has he helped you?"
 
[Arjan]: "Coach Brown came in and instantly we liked what he was saying in the initial meetings with us. We knew it was going to be good for the time, the culture and everything he was about…the first thing he did when he came in was he got to know all of us. I remember getting a phone call over summer break from coach and he was like "I just want to get to know all of you", so I feel like he really sets a high standard for our team and our culture. We do community service and all of those types of things off the field and as far as soccer goes, we developed a new system under Coach Brown and as you can see, it's clearly working and we are all super bought into what he has to say."
 
[Chris]: "You mentioned his new system and the fact that you didn't play last year… last year was a little tough for the team, just talk about how you kind of turned that page and how that success is translating this season."
 
[Arjan:] "So for me personally, I came into every practice knowing I was doing rehab on the side and although I couldn't really partake in practicing, I was always listening and asking questions and trying to participate in as many ways as I can whether it was helping the guys with feedback or listening to what the coaches have to say. Last year, we were still developing the new tactics and formations that coach brought and I feel like building off last year, it was huge for it because we were all bought in when this year came around. I feel like when a coach brings a new system, it obviously takes time to get used to it and fully buy into it, but last year was definitely a stepping stone into this year."
 
[Chris]: "For someone who is not only looking to get recruited to play division I soccer but someone who has been through lots of obstacles, what is some advice or some thoughts you have learned along the way?"
 
[Arjan]: "I like to believe that everything happens for a reason and you can't get down on yourself with a torn ACL or a freak car accident. You just always have to preserve and get through it. I feel like rather than feeling sorry for yourself, you just have to be relentless and preserve." 
 
[Chris]: "Being an upperclassman, obviously you know you haven't played as much as you like, but you've been here for four years, you know everyone. What is it like being a leader on the team?"
 
[Arjan]: "It's a huge responsibility and it's a good place to be. You know the new guys come in, they're really good guys, they always ask questions and look up to us so I just feel like setting the right example is important, whether it's cleaning up the pitch or doing stuff off the field. I think keeping a really good team bond is huge. One thing that I personally did when I was hurt was just check in on the guys, be there for whatever they need and that's part of being a leader. Even though you're not really on the field, you're supporting them no matter what, so it's just being a mentor for them whenever they need it."
 
[Chris]: "You mentioned your girlfriend and your family as your support system, you know if they read this article or just hear your story and you talk about what is one thing you would say to them."
 
[Arjan]: "Just that I love them and I really appreciate all of their support and their constant positive feedback they have given me. During my ACL rehab, my mom and sister would drive all the way from Sacramento, balancing work and school just to come in and check on me. When I got surgery, they were picking me up and dropping me off at school… my message to them would be that I love them and I wouldn't be able to do any of it without them." 
 
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