There are a lot of barriers standing between the average youth soccer player and a career as a professional. There’s competition, fitness, skills, bad coaching. Jordan Morris had one more barrier to deal with. He was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was nine.
“You don’t see a ton of professional soccer players with diabetes,” Morris tells Sounder at Heart. “My dad recently told me he didn’t even think I’d be able to play soccer in college.”
Having Type 1 diabetes means that Morris’ pancreas doesn’t produce insulin. After eating, sugar and other nutrients enter the blood stream, and insulin helps the body absorb that sugar and turn it into energy.