Behind the Mask: Julie Kouijzer

The 2022 University of Louisville field hockey preseason was already off to an unusual start when a dramatic injury occurred to one of its team co-captains.

"That day is a day that I will remember for probably the majority of my life," said UofL field hockey coach Justine Sowry. "We were away, unable to train at Trager Stadium at the time because we were waiting for our turf to be installed. We were doing a shooting drill in the circle and it actually happened right in front of my eyes."

Julie Kouijzer, a defender from Amsterdam, the Netherlands was entering her senior campaign after earning All-America honors in 2021. On that Friday, the Cardinals were preparing for the upcoming season at Ohio State when she was inadvertently hit in the mouth with a stick during practice. Everyone froze.

"We were doing a drill with a lot of speed, a lot of movement and I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Kouijzer. "I tried to stop the ball and I unfortunately got hit with a stick in my face. I immediately knew something was wrong. There was a lot of blood gushing – it was everywhere. I just sat on the ground."

Athletic trainer Nicole Villarreal immediately sprang into action.

"I was standing at the top of the circle like I usually am, handing out water, and you heard the stick hit Julie's face," Villarreal recalled. "It was very hard, everyone went silent… As soon as I got to her, she was on the ground, just on her knees with her face covered. Her hands were over her mouth. Her mouthguard was on the ground, parts of her teeth were in the mouthguard… Once we got everything cleaned up, you could see that she had a couple of teeth completely shattered."

Unable to find a local dental office that was open, Villarreal called the UofL field hockey team dentist, Dr. Eric Nunnally, and he happened to have a friend whose office was located an hour away from Columbus.

"Julie, Debbie Bell (director of field hockey operations) and I got in the car and drove to this little clinic that was not open at the time - because by the time we got there it was 9 p.m. - but they opened the clinic for us," said Villarreal. "They took the X-rays. They cleaned up Julie very nicely and she was able to smile and see her teeth were straight and they were put together."

Once back in Louisville, Kouijzer was cleared to play with the stipulation that she wear a protective covering for her mouth and face.

The problem was, that particular type of face mask was not readily available. Villarreal reached out to other schools that had utilized similar protective equipment, but with the Cardinals' season-opening game a little over a week away, time was of the essence. Villarreal consulted with Bianca Grimshaw, the Manager of Athletic Trainers at UofL Health, who suggested contacting UofL's prestigious Speed School of Engineering to see if they could create something.

Enter Justin Gillham, Engineering Coordinator at the Speed School, who was eager to take on the project. He and his team began working with Villarreal and Kouijzer to determine the parameters - everything from being NCAA-compliant to making sure that Julie would be able to see, breathe and vocalize properly while moving at a fast pace.

"Bianca Grimshaw reached out to us and said she had an athlete who had a face injury and was wondering if we would be able to create these shields quickly for them," recounted Gillham. "Our director, Thomas Berfield forwarded the request to us so that we could come up with how we were going to solve the problem. The day that we met with them, everyone got together so we could discuss everything."

With the deadline looming, Gillham and his team got to work in the lab creating a computer model of the shield to fit her face shape while incorporating Villarreal and Kouijzer's requests.

"They 3D-scanned my face like they do in video games and asked me a lot of questions," said Kouijzer. "They wanted to make it look really cool… We went there on a Monday and they got it done on a Thursday. It was so fast. I'm really grateful for them."

After a few attempts with other methods of production, Gillham and his team found success utilizing the 3D resin printer. Once the entire process was completed, the custom-made face mask was ready and Kouijzer could take the field.

"We took the scan of her face and immediately from that scan we were able to start making mask files and a few days later, we had the first mask ready… In total we had nine days to work on it and we delivered it on time for the first game of the season."

After the initial mask was developed, a few modifications and adjustments have been made, mostly around the eyes and adjusting the connecting straps. Meanwhile, Kouijzer has not missed a beat on the field and is in the midst of a career-best season – earning ACC Defensive Player of the Week and National Field Hockey Coaches Association Senior Team honors.

"It's really cool to be able to take in projects like this and have a really quick turnaround and see the work that we put into this immediately affect someone," said Gillham. "In this case, she wouldn't have been able to play the sport that she's here to play without us being there to help in the time that they needed it. They reached out to us, and we were immediately able to get what they needed and it's really nice to see that throughout the university and see how we can service other departments and other areas that we don't usually get to do projects for."

Their craftsmanship has not gone unappreciated by the UofL field hockey program which has spent the entire season ranked among the top 10 in the nation while producing five shutouts with Kouijzer on the field directing the defense.

"It's just incredible, to be perfectly honest," said Sowry. "It molds to her face, it has not impacted her vision at all. She can play confidently without it really affecting her game. For it to happen in-house at UofL, it really says a lot about the Speed School of Engineering and what's possible here at UofL."

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Julie Kouijzer

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