Wisconsin Soccer Central

It's been a long time since Aaron Hohlbein (Middleton/UW) has played in a professional soccer game.

And it's going to be a while longer.

The 27-year-old defender spent time training with Minnesota United FC of the North American Soccer League last month and was poised to join them for another stint in an attempt to make the team. But some pain in his right foot and ankle proved to be three stress fractures, sending Hohlbein back to the sidelines once again.

"Frustrating to say the least," he wrote in a text message.

Hohlbein hasn't played in a competitive match since July 9, 2011, when he was with the NASL's Fort Lauderdale Strikers.

He had surgery on his right knee a month later, a procedure that removed torn cartilage and included microfracture – tiny holes drilled into the end of the bone to help stimulate new cartilage growth. But his comeback from that injury was halted by more cartilage damage, which required another surgery in June 2012.

Hohlbein wrote that he expects to be out of action for a few months because of the stress fractures and is hoping to be ready to go out on trials in late June or July. On the plus side, he wrote, he's not experiencing any knee problems.

After 43 appearances (41 starts) in four seasons with the Kansas City Wizards in Major League Soccer from 2007 to '10, the 6-foot center back played a key role for the Strikers in 2011 before his season came to an end – Hohlbein was the team captain and played all 90 minutes in all 14 of his appearances.

• James Weber (Hartford) is heading back to Sweden on April 1 to rejoin Gullringens GoIF in the Division 3 Nordöstra Götaland, he wrote in a Twitter message. The 20-year-old scored nine goals and added six assists last summer to help the club fight off relegation and remain in the fifth-division league – Gullringens was 11th in the 12-team league when they signed Weber last July, but went 5-1-4 with him in the lineup and ended up sixth with a 7-9-6 record. Weber spent the winter with the Milwaukee Wave of the Major Indoor Soccer League, training with their reserve team for most of the season and making one league appearance after being signed to the first team on Feb. 5.