For most, Girls’ Volleyball 2019 was a fun but competitive sporting event. For me however, it was arguably the most important piece of my recovery from knee surgery. At the end of May, I underwent a major knee operation that addressed damage caused by 3 separate knee dislocations. Because of the timing of the season, I was well aware of the fact that I wouldn’t be able to compete with my team of 2 years long before training even began.

Fortunately, because of my history with the team and its amazing coach, I was kindly encouraged to come to practices, help run drills and even co-coach. The season began when I was only 3 months post-op and as a result, I wore my full-length, 100% motion-restricting brace. At 3 months, I wasn’t allowed to run, jog, or jump so my physical participation in practice was pretty limited. In these more sedentary stages of my recovery, I spent most of practice correcting technique and giving advice during to the girls trying out.

Despite this specific recovery being my 4th time having to train and nurse my knee back to full strength, I still had no clue how to go about the process – which is why volleyball season was so important to my recovery. Attending volleyball training helped me test my strength and exercise accordingly. It was during practice that I started testing out how comfortable I was running for the first time. These little achievements would have been awkward to discover if I was training on my own. I was grateful to have my team and my coach around me when I was discovering my physical capabilities.

Being my last year at OSC and thus my last chance to compete in SAISA volleyball, it was pretty disappointing when my team eventually had to leave without me. Nonetheless, I’m super proud of their achievements and I owe the team and its coaches thanks for letting me participate and also being a part of my recovery <3