Returning to the field from a long recovery

By Melissa Canulli

Ask any athlete what the one thing is that they fear most; an injury, or any kind. A majority of student athletes, at one point in their college career, are sidelined due to some form of an injury.

There is one Blazer athlete in particular, that was hit with a painful recovery to get to where she is today. To put things in perspective there are about 300,000 anterior cruciate ligament (otherwise known as your ACL) tears a year, 98 percent of athletes facing that injury will return to his or her sport.

Women’s field hockey player, Alysa Billeter, gave us her side of how she has returned to the field for the Blazers; she says that tearing her ACL was one of the most painful injuries she was ever faced with.

Alysa believes that the training staff here at Hood got her to where she is today, and that they deserve most of the credit. Alysa said, “The trainers here would work with me day in and day out before and after my surgery to make my recovery as smooth as possible.” Without that desire to work day in and out, she would still be sitting on the sideline for another two months.

Any injury will have also have a mental and physical effect on an athlete. Alysa said that she did have her doubts about whether her knee would be able to hold up long enough to play during this season. Many athletes with an ACL replacement are picked out of a crowd easily by the large hinged knee brace they are fitted with. She is still getting used to her brace although she only has to wear it for the first year.

“Without the huge support from her teammates and coaches she would not be mentality where she is today,” said Alysa.

Alysa did express some advice that she would like to give to the freshman athletes when it comes to dealing with injuries. Every athlete knows their body best and you have to know your own limits, but also listen to the training staff. She said if something starts hurting or bothering you, go to the training room, and get the treatment you need. The training staff at Hood is here to help you prevent any major injuries from happening, and not to mention take care of any pain you may be having.

Alysa summed it all up perfectly saying, “We never want to be taken out of the sport we love to play, but there comes a time where if you do not stop to take care of an injury the end result could be a lot worse.”