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Growing up, Russell Cain had two
dreams for his future: to
play professional soccer and to be a veterinarian. After several years
of
soccer success, Russell is now accomplishing the second part of his
childhood
dream as a first-year student at the CVM. Russell tells us his story:
Did you always want
to
be a veterinarian?
Yes, there were two things I
wanted to do as a kid: play professional
soccer and be a veterinarian.
When did you start
playing soccer?
Age 6. I watched my older
brother play and I just had to do
it too.
Where did you go to
college?
Florida International University
(FIU). I received a bachelor’s in religious studies.
How did you break
into
professional soccer?
I had been playing semi-pro
since I was 14. The owner of the
Miami Breakers, a pro team, approached me at FIU and asked if I wanted
to play for
him as well as let him represent me. So I played unpaid for them until
I
finished my 4th year of college soccer. Then I officially
turned
pro.
What professional
teams did you play for?
The Miami Breakers are a part of
the Premier Development
League (PDL) which is the 3rd division in the U.S. I
spent
two seasons unpaid while in college and two seasons paid after college.
Next I
played for the Miami Fusion, which was a part of Major League Soccer
(MLS) (1st
Division) before they moved the franchise to another city. I played for
the
United States National Beach Team which is comprised of the best beach
players
in the country. It travels and plays against other countries’ teams
just like
the World Cup. The Nashville Metros was the final team I played for
competitively before retiring. It was a part of the A-League which is
like 2nd
division.
Where did you travel
while playing soccer?
I’ve been to almost every state
in the U.S.
repeatedly. I have also been to Europe and South
America
to play. It was a lot of fun, but we ended up traveling so much that we
really
would forget what city we were in. Pretty much every other week out of
the year
we were either on a bus or a plane heading somewhere.
Tell us an
interesting
story from your travels.
I’ve got some pretty sweet
stories, but I’ll try to pick a
good one. When I traveled with the U.S. Beach Team to Sao Paolo,
Brazil,
we were mobbed like rock stars. Our team bus had a police escort, but
was
stopped about one mile outside of the stadium because there were so
many fans
there was no way traffic could possibly get through. The crowds would
rush the
bus and bang on the windows, asking for any gear that we had to give
them. They
were waving American flags and got so excited that they started rocking
our bus
back and forth. We finally made it to the stadium where we beat Italy
5-2. On
the way back to the bus, we were swarmed again by fans. We gave them
everything
we had in terms of gear and actually made it back to our bus with only
our
underwear. It came out in the papers the next day: a picture of most of
our
team running to the bus in our undies.
Why did you retire?
I stopped mainly due to injury.
My knees were shot and I
tore my quad in half while in Nashville.
What did you do
after
retiring?
I decided that since I had
already fulfilled one dream in my
life it was time to obtain the other. I started at a vet clinic in the
kennel
(the bottom of the bottom). I ended up moving back to Mississippi
where I met my wife, Jenny. She
actually hired me at the first clinic we ever worked at together. Funny
thing
is we actually got fired for dating…but we ended up getting married and
having
two little wild men, Meelan, 4, and Brennon, 2.
What brought you to
veterinary school?
She knew that I wanted to go to
vet school, and she was
actually the one who pushed me into pursuing it. I started taking
pre-requisite
classes at night while working during the day. It took us about 2
½ years of
full-time work and school to finish up. Those were definitely the tough
years.
However, since we both shared the same dream, it made it a little
easier.
Anyway, we applied; got the call from K-State, and the rest is history.
What are your goals
for the future?
To be honest, my professional
goals are going to take a
backseat to my family. I really just want to watch my kids grow up and
be as
much a part of their lives as possible. Ideally, I’d love to specialize
in
small animal surgery. I love veterinary medicine, but I love them more.
However, I’m
thrilled to be here and pursuing my immediate goal of becoming a
doctor.
Everything else will fall into place.
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Dr. Davis was
named K-State Professor of the Week at the Aug. 8 home football game
vs. San Jose State.
