A tear or a "wrong feeling" is something all too familiar to these Bearcat athletes. Athletes often don't consider what a serious injury could do to their future career. These injuries not only affects an athlete physically, but it could also take a toll on their mental health and how it affects their comeback. Whether it be a lack of confidence, or a complete loss of love for the sport that they play, injuries can completely derail the career of an athlete at the top of their game. It’s a prominent part of today’s world, and a 2019 study found that even at the highest level, 35% of athletes have mental health concerns and struggles. For many of these athletes, these sports are bigger than life, and are something that carries them through it on a daily basis. It’s stories like that of Jeremy Wisten, former professional soccer star, who took his own life in 2020 after being released by Manchester City’s Academy after struggling to recover from a knee injury, that demonstrate how some athletes will live through their sport. Once athletic confidence is gone, or even taken from them temporarily, it can be a struggle to find happiness from anywhere else. Many of these injuries also leave athletes with loads of downtime, a very contrasting situation compared to their daily life, and something that gives them too much time to think about such a negative situation without any way for them to cope with it. Overall, the injuries that athletes suffer is not just physical, but also mental. However, these struggles also serve as mental strengthening and motivation. The athletes learn how to cope and recover from their injuries, allowing them to come back stronger than when they left.
TORI HOLBROOK: DUNKS AND DREAMS
Tori Holbrook, sophomore, has played volleyball for four years and basketball for 10 years. Her freshman year, Holbrook had a very “Get the ball!” mentality. This season she's more focused on her muscles and strength than ever before. "Not pushing it all the way because I don't want to get hurt”, Holbrook said regarding the effect her injury had on the way she plays her sports. In April of 2024, Holbrook tore her plantar fascia, the tissue connecting her heel to her knee, during the club basketball season. She has taken falls and has bruises constantly from the aggressive contact sport, but when she got up during this game, she immediately could tell that this injury was like no other. “I definitely took that fall harder than I have before,” Holbrook said. After that game she went to consult Kevin Williams, the athletic trainer, who encouraged her to see an orthopedist. Holbrook got multiple magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and X-rays to discover the tear. Despite this injury, Holbrook still attended games and cheered on her team from the sidelines, “I still went just to support my team.” She was more than happy to cheer on her team but it was hard to watch others play and improve while she had to focus on strengthening her muscles to return to the court. “Thinking of everyone improving and getting better while I wasn’t improving at all was really rough on me,” Holbrook said. Along with attending physical therapy throughout the summer, Holbrook also attended her volleyball practices to prepare for the fall volleyball season. Not allowing the injury to affect her season, she focused her attention to strengthening her muscle through PT and exercises. As basketball season nears once again, Holbrook finds herself more worried. “All the time I'm just like, ‘don't fall, don't fall, don't fall,’ which for a sport like basketball, can be hard.” Holbrook said. Being more cautious on the court, Holbrook is determined to put forth her best effort in her sophomore basketball season
FROM KICK TO COMEBACK: HARLEM RICKSON
Sophomore, Harlem Rickson, on the 2024 JV volleyball roster and 2023 JV soccer team. She tore her meniscus in her left leg during volleyball tryouts in June of 2024. After diving for a ball, Rickson knew something felt wrong, “I thought I could walk it off, but it wasn't right. I could tell something wasn’t right,” she said. Doctors took X-Rays and were unable to identify what was wrong, so they waited for an MRI. She reported that the whole process took around 4 weeks, just to identify what was wrong. Once Rickson was finally told exactly what was wrong her initial thought was, “This sucks, and I don't know what to do, because all I do is play sports.” Despite not being able to participate in a single game, she still attended every home game. The road to recovery was not an easy one. She started off on crutches on August 29th, 2024, after her surgery in August. As of November 14th she was told she can walk without the support of crutches. She commented that being fully healed would take about a year. “They (doctors) said I can't squat, like a deep squat for a whole year.” She has also been attending physical therapy since the surgery in August in an attempt to strengthen her leg. Rickson believes by next school year she will be able to try out for sports such as volleyball and soccer. She expects that when playing sports again, her brain will be racked with nervous thoughts. “I feel like I'll just be thinking that I shouldn't be doing this, because what if it happens again?” When reflecting on the event, she has seen that it is something that she would not want to go through again because of its extensive recovery. Rickson is more worried about returning to soccer than volleyball because soccer is a much more aggressive sport and it has been her main sport for her whole life. Although the injury will be a long recovery mostly involving strengthening her leg, Rickson can’t wait to do so. She hopes to try out for the sports she will or has missed this season, and to come back stronger than before.
WYATT JOHNSON: OVERCOMING ADVERSITY
Senior Wyatt Johnson, suffered a torn ACL and meniscus during his game against St. Joseph on October 12, which has taken him out for the remainder of his high school football season. Before his injury, he was averaging 20.3 yards per game in his fourth year donning the crimson and white. Johnson was upbeat in response to whether his current injury affects his future sports career. “I have the full potential to play college football,” citing both Monterey Peninsula College and Allan Hancock College as targets to carry his talents onto. Mentally though, it has carried a weight on the experienced receiver, with the immediate moments after it happened being described as “Heart breaking". “Knowing that I couldn’t support myself to even stand and walk to the sideline was really hard,” Johnson said.” For Johnson, the most difficult part was not being able to support his team. “Not being able to help the team when they needed me the most has been painful for me,” Johnson said. Johnson was forced to watch from the sidelines in the final 3 games of the season, all of which the Bearcats ended up losing, and ultimately causing them to miss out on the playoff race.