DANIEL BERNADER/Arizona Daily Wildcat Former Arizona soccer player Liz Bartlett had to leave the team at the beginning of the season and take a medical hardship. She was one of the Wildcats' rising stars.

The small compartment on her blue backpack reads "Arizona Soccer" in white letters ÷ it's the team bag.

The bag still belongs to her, even though she technically doesn't belong to the team.

What started out as a medical hardship for former women's soccer member Liz Bartlett has become an emotional one öö but she's getting by.

"It didn't really set in until I saw the team warming up (against Drake)," she said. "It was one of my saddest moments."

Understandable.

After playing the game of soccer since she was five, and committing herself to the sport by nine, letting go would not be easy ÷ and Bartlett isn't planning to just yet.

If she couldn't play because of an injury, that would have been different.

But her hardship is simply öö complicated.

She has suffered from chronic illness in the past months. A variety of afflictions that got so bad she has had to put her dreams on hold, possibly for good.

"I was constantly unhealthy," she said. "It would be flu-like, or some other things. I was just always sick."

Bartlett said she tried just about everything to try and shake her chronic cold but nothing worked, and the frustration grew.

"I tried everything," she said. "I changed my diet, my sleeping habits, saw specialists, everything."

Her father Mike said the decision was a hard one, but one that had to be made.

"The only thing her mother and I have done is be there for her and supported her in anything she has wanted to do," he said. "We spent a lot of time with her on the phone. We looked really at what was best for her right now. Hopefully she will be able to continue to get well and be able to play if she wants to."

Though Bartlett appears to have

tragically gone from a student athlete to an athletic student with a shattered dream, she is far from throwing in the towel and remains in good spirits.

"I am just taking things day-by-day," she said. "It is a setback but I am not going to let it interfere with my dreams. I still like to work out and keep in shape, and still dream of playing professionally. My teammates and parents have been great. I can really confide in them."

Her father said Liz has always had a positive outlook on life, and has no doubt his daughter will make it through this latest test.

"She is a real upbeat kid," Mike said of his daughter. "Liz and Sam (Liz's twin sister) are pretty goal oriented and we have raised them that way. They have faced a lot of challenges throughout their careers ÷ everything from coaches saying they weren't good enough or too small or not fast enough. They have overcome a lot."

Mike Bartlett recalled a time Liz went through a particular hardship as a junior in high school: arriving at a high profile soccer tournament with two right shoes.

"They had about 200 college coaches there," Bartlett said. "She was playing with the Rascals, a premier club team. We get out of the car and she realized the shoes she brought were two right shoes."

"Oh, goodness," Liz said after being reminded of her mental lapse. "What had happened, I was just in a big hurry and ended up grabbing my left running shoe and my sister's left running shoe. They were just my warm-up shoes though."

Now faced with a bigger block in the road than two of the same shoe, Liz is staying involved with UA soccer as best she can, within the guidelines set by her medical hardship.

Though the conditions of her hardship forbid her from practicing, traveling and receiving any benefits from the team, Liz still plans on being associated with the team in any way she can.

"I have to work out at the Rec Center now since I can't practice with the team," she said. "I've been thinking about being an assistant coach or something."

In the mean time, Liz is trying to fill up the free time.

"I am going to be studying so I can graduate in four years, and catch up on two years worth of sleep," she said laughing. "I will have more time now to go out and have fun. Or just cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie."

Sure, watching True Romance ÷ her favorite movie ÷ or listening to Incubus is a nice way to spend some time, but she would still rather be out on the field with her comrades, and they would rather have her with them.

"They don't treat me any different," she said. "They are behind me 100 percent."