TAMPA, Fla. – Charlotte Independence defender Clay Dimick has been voted the 2024 USL League One Comeback Player of the Year presented by Tiger Balm following a campaign in which the club stalwart overcame a potentially career-ending injury to return to action and lead his side to success in the past League One and USL Jägermeister Cup campaigns.

“I am super blessed and grateful to receive this recognition,” said Dimick. “From being told I may never play soccer again, to now receiving this award after a successful year, I am very thankful. I want to thank God, my family, our friends, the Charlotte fans, and everyone here at the Independence for the support they have provided me on this journey. I would not have been able to do it without all of them!”

A native of Atlanta, Dimick has been a fixture with the Independence since joining the professional ranks in 2019 when the club competed in the USL Championship, seeing progressive rises in his minutes year-on-year to making 20 appearances as the side reached the postseason in 2021.

As the club moved to League One for the 2022 season, Dimick became a leader within the squad, sitting seventh in the league with 2,782 minutes of play across the regular season and playoffs. The following season he maintained the same path until two-thirds into the season, when in late July he began feeling pain in his neck. After feeling tingling sensations in his arms and legs – and ultimately being unable to lift his leg over a hurdle during practice drills – Dimick went to seek medical advice.

The initial prognosis wasn’t good. The first neurosurgeon he visited told Dimick, “If you were my son or my brother, I wouldn’t let you play again because the surgery you need to get is very intense.”

It was a disheartening moment for the 30-year-old, who had put everything into building his career with Charlotte. A second opinion offered an alternative – a two-level cervical artificial disc replacement which would see the two ruptured discs removed and replaced with artificial replacements. The catch? While it offered the potential for a better quality of life than the alternative of fusion surgery, no professional athlete had attempted to return to play after undergoing the surgery.

Dimick’s road back after surgery was a long one. Initially, he was limited in the amount of standing and walking he was allowed to do per day. He gradually worked his way back through physical therapy as the left side of his body relearned everyday tasks, and regained strength.

In mid-January, he was cleared by doctors to return to play. In 2024, he made the most of his second chance. Dimick played every minute of the League One and Jägermeister Cup campaign, helping the Independence reach the Jägermeister Cup Semifinals and the League One Playoffs. 

Dimick has now recorded 124 appearances for the Independence across regular season, playoffs and USL Jagermeister Cup play, and is ready to continue on with the club as it heads to the 2025 campaign.

“The coaching staff and the owners, everyone in the club really, was super supportive and just really nice in how they went about it,” said Dimick. “They gave me my space when I needed it, but they were there when I needed them as well. I can’t thank them enough from Dan and Jim all the way to Mike and the staff and my teammates. Everybody knew what I needed and knew what would help me, so I can’t thank them enough because I never would have gotten through it as positively as I did without them.”

Dimick earned the award with 71 percent of a fan vote conducted at USLLeagueOne.com which concluded on Monday. Spokane Velocity FC midfielder Andre Lewis finished second on 27 percent after a bounce-back campaign that saw the Jamaican international lead Velocity to the USL League One Final in its inaugural season in the league.