{"id":7572,"date":"2024-04-04T07:18:48","date_gmt":"2024-04-04T11:18:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/?p=7572"},"modified":"2024-04-04T07:17:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-04T11:17:44","slug":"team-endures-eight-acl-tears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/?p=7572","title":{"rendered":"Team Endures Eight ACL Tears"},"content":{"rendered":"

Payton Pabst ’27
\nEE\u00a0<\/em>Staff Writer<\/p>\n

Tearing an ACL is not rare when it comes to sports, but eight times over four years is farcical. The Lady Eagles Trumbull High School basketball team has endured this tragedy as numerous girls have been deprived of their seasons. Everyone has heard of the devastation when an injury occurs, but what about the sustained stamina within the persistent recovery of these athletes?<\/p>\n

All sports fans know players tear their ACLs, but what is it? ACL stands for anterior cruciate ligament which is the tissue band that connects the thigh bone to the shin bone. There are many contributors to why this may tear, as in movements with sudden stops, jumping, landing, or changes in direction. When it occurs there is a slight pop sound followed by pain and swelling. To treat this injury there is surgery and then months of physical therapy. It is an especially familiar injury for basketball players when they are constantly cutting back and forth on the court.<\/p>\n

The Trumbull High School girl’s basketball team coached by Steve Tobitsch, has six girls who have torn their ACLs. Two of them even tore both ACLs and three of four senior captains have also fallen victim to this horrific injury.<\/p>\n

Lauryn Wright tore her left ACL junior year along with Sheri Oberhand tearing both her ACLs freshman and sophomore year. Lastly, Erin Foley tore both ACLs sophomore and senior year. Through these girls’ tough times, the team has all worked to support them.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy coaches and teammates supported me the most during my recovery,\u201d Wright said. \u201cThey knew that I love basketball and they made me feel like I was still a part of the team even though I was not on the court.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the moment each player heard the pop they have strived to be back on the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust imagining myself back on the field or court pushed me to always work hard,” said Foley. “I wanted to come out of this stronger and better than before.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to Foley, Wright and Oberhand added that they wanted nothing more than to be competing alongside their teammates like they once were.<\/p>\n

The only way to come back is to commit to recovery. After the surgery, players are told they will be out for six months to a year. Physical therapy is the next step for all players enduring an injury to strengthen and repair what has been damaged. There are countless exercises and stretches to ensure rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did something every day to make my legs stronger,\u201d Oberhand said. \u201cWhether it was physical therapy, shooting, or even small weight training or cardio workouts, the goal was just to get better at something little every day.”<\/p>\n

Everyone\u2019s physical therapy looks a little different but everything is ultimately to build a person back up.<\/p>\n

Tearing an ACL can happen at any age for high school athletes. One thing about these Lady Eagles is that they are the first to advise newly injured players especially when it comes to ACLs. An injury is a large setback that can cause many to feel alone.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Dream Team! Lauryn Wright, 12, Rylan Massey, 12, Sheridan Oberhand, 12, and Erin Foley, 12, prepare for their senior night against Ridgefield.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cTrust the process,” says Oberhand to all young girls with any affliction. “The days feel slow but the months feel quick. Just come back stronger and know that you have proven your mental toughness after going through this injury.\u201d<\/p>\n

Accompanying Wright, Foley, and Oberhand are three other teammates who have torn their ACL. Junior, Lily Seltenreich, tore hers during the summer league games. Sophomore, Kailey Hall, tore her ACL while playing rugby. Then during this season in the second game, sophomore Michaela Diamond tore hers as well. Just like the seniors, these young girls are going through their rounds of physical therapy to prepare themselves for the seasons to come.<\/p>\n

The final captain, Rylan Massey, did not succumb to these ACL injuries but had to undergo losing multiple teammates throughout her four years. Overall the team has had successful seasons as players recover and rejoin back on the court. Specifically, the Lady Eagles were 13-7 in the regular season while also making it to the second round of the 2024 CIAC Girls Basketball State Championships this year.<\/p>\n

Photo Credit: \u00a0Frank Vitucci Photography<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Payton Pabst ’27 EE\u00a0Staff Writer Tearing an ACL is not rare when it comes to sports, but eight times over four years is farcical. The Lady Eagles Trumbull High School basketball team…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":7571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7572"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7578,"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7572\/revisions\/7578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}