Tampa Bay Rowdies goalie fights back from hip surgery

TAMPA, Fla. - Connor Sparrow is just thankful to be able to make saves on the pitch, again. 

"With that goal in mind, all the rehab was worth it," Sparrow recalled.

While playing for Miami FC last season the veteran goalkeeper suffered a torn labrum in his hip, requiring surgery.

"Hip labral repair with femoral osteoplasty," explained Sparrow. "So [the surgeon] had to go in there and shave some bone off as well." 

The injury, and the six-month recovery time, however, didn't stop Sparrow's drive to play. It also didn't stop the Tampa Bay Rowdies' interest in a keeper who is top-10 in saves, all time, in USL history. 

"We tried to bring Connor in four or five years ago when he was on his way to Nashville," head coach Neill Collins admitted. 

Injury or not, Sparrow traded Miami for Tampa Bay and signed with the Rowdies in the offseason. 

READ: Lionel Messi picks Miami as he joins Major League Soccer

Now, he just needed to get healthy. 

"We needed to get him back," Collins remembered thinking to himself. "He was going to have to come back, potentially, at some point." 

Even when cleared to play in April, Sparrow had to earn his way back onto the pitch with his new team. With the Rowdies early season struggles, however, Collins decided to shake up the roster and put Sparrow between the pipes for his Rowdies debut. 

"I think his experience, his composure, has been able to make people feel good and that they can trust him," Collins said. 

READ: Team Tampa spreads the sport of rowing

Back in a starting 11, Sparrow's return wasn't lost on the 29-year-old netminder from St. Louis. 

"Being back on the field after that process, it meant a lot," Sparrow said. 

Ever since, the Rowdies fortunes have turned around, being undefeated in their last six matches. 

Once upon a time, Sparrow earned the jeers of Rowdies fans while playing against them. 

"It was always a difficult experience, for sure," admitted Sparrow, recalling his days in playing against Tampa Bay for Miami. 

But now, after a difficult journey of his own, those jeers have turned into cheers. 

"It just put things into perspective for me that I have to value every time I step onto the field," Sparrow said. 

Now, the Rowdies Sparrow is living up to his name, and flying between the pipes.