The Daily Item, Sunbury, PA

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October 17, 2012

H.S. field hockey: A knee(d) to play

By Scott Dudinskie The Daily Item

SUNBURY — To use her word, Alexis Reid was “hysterical” when her right knee suddenly gave way in Shikellamy’s first scrimmage.

The Braves star midfielder had always feared an ACL tear and, crumpled on the ground at the circle’s edge, she didn’t need an MRI to confirm it.

The overwhelming pain, though, didn’t compare to the crushing thought of her senior season ending in that instant.

“I was bawling as soon as it happened, but it wasn’t even the pain,” Reid recalled. “I mean, it hurt really, really bad, but I was like, I cannot be out my senior year. I’ve been with these girls for six years; they feel like my family to me. And I just love (hockey) so much.”

Her description of the injury (“I was by myself ... and I must have just planted wrong. I felt like my leg just went in half”) didn’t bode well for her prognosis.

The MRI showed a severed ACL but also gave Reid hope. Her meniscus was only slightly torn. Dr. Daniel Feldmann, Chief of Sports Medicine at Geisinger Medical Center, told Reid she could play but with a risk of doing further damage.

So she played. Every game — despite a similar knee-buckling incident that caused her to be carried off the field, and her bulky brace becoming a magnet for opponents’ sticks.

“As a coach it would have been really tough not to see her playing this season, but it was her decision,” said Braves coach Holly Zimmerman. “She has been giving her all ever since. It is all we can ask for as a coaching staff.”

After winning just eight games in the last two seasons, the Braves (8-8-1) are poised to qualify for the district playoffs for the first time since 2009.

They must beat Milton today at home to qualify.

“I couldn’t even describe the feeling (if we qualified). It’s so hard to explain,” Reid said. “I’d just be so ecstatic that we’re playing. If we’d win that would be amazing, but just to be able to say we made it, (that) it was my senior year and I was playing through the injury ... I’d just remember it forever.”



‘It’s really frustrating’

Reid scored a team-high 12 goals and added two assists as the Braves went 6-11-1 last year. She earned a Heartland-I second team nod with the first team dominated by high-volume scorers from top-three district seeds Selinsgrove and Midd-West.

Reid had visions of leading an improved Shikellamy team to HAC-I contention and the District 4 Class AA field. Then her worst fear was realized.

“I always dreamt (tearing an ACL) would happen to me, and I’d wish it never would,” she said. “When it happened I just knew that’s what happened.”

The injury is more prevalent in female athletes, and Reid was a competitive cheerleader for PA Elite, as well as a hockey standout.

For two weeks after sustaining the injury, she worked with a trainer to resume running. She was cleared to return to the field on Sept. 6, the date of the Braves’ HAC-I opener against Selinsgrove. She played in the 1-all tie, one of the handful of times Selinsgrove didn’t win a HAC game in the five-year history of the league.

Reid, though, hasn’t been the player she was a year ago. She’s scored about a half-dozen goals, and she had hoped to be more of a playmaker for a relatively young squad.

“I’m really hard on myself (but) I can see it, and it’s probably obvious. I’m not nearly as good as I was. It’s really frustrating,” she said. “Sometimes I completely forget, and I’m like ‘Go Alexis! Keep going!’ But there are things I can’t control. I can’t stop right away. It hurts to put all my body weight on that leg. So sometimes it dawns on me that I need to step back.

“Sometimes someone will say, ‘Well, you are playing with a torn ACL.’”

Zimmerman has rested Reid more than normal this season, whether Reid has requested it or not. There have been times when she hasn’t had a choice, such as on Senior Night against Danville when she collapsed or in a recent game against Mifflinburg when the physical play was too much to bear.

“At the beginning of the season there weren’t any problems, but in a recent game I heard a girl make the comment, ‘Go for her right knee.’ I was just, like, Why would someone say that?” Reid said. “(At Mifflinburg) I got pushed around a lot. Coach Holly says, ‘I know you need a break. They’re coming for you.’ It doesn’t really hold me back, though. I kind of just want to keep going and show them there’s no reason sub for me.”



An inspiration

Perhaps if she played softball, or even basketball, Reid’s perseverance wouldn’t be as extraordinary. Field hockey, though, demands constant hustle, and no sport’s flow changes direction as often or as rapidly.

In short, the game’s a nightmare for good knees, let alone injured ones.

“The pain’s not that bad that I can’t take it,” she said. “If I just step wrong it’ll hurt instantly. Then I’ll come off. I just need a couple minutes and then I’m good.”

Zimmerman is convinced Reid has been an inspiration, a motivating force for a team few expected much of.

“The team has rallied behind her,” said Zimmerman. “She’s giving 100 percent of herself out there and they see her and want to go give everything they’ve got. She is a determined young lady and a player who has excelled at this sport, which is great for younger players to see.”

“I don’t know if people realize what I’m going through,” said Reid. “It’s really mentally wearing me down. Physically, too, but ... I’m still trying my hardest.

“I hope some of the (junior varsity) girls see what I’m going through and are (inspired).”

Reid avoided further damage to the meniscus, which would have required immediate (and season-ending) surgery. As it stands, she plans to have surgery the first week of December. Though she’s had to put cheerleading on hold, she hopes to be able to play college field hockey next year.

“I think it’s always going to cause pain, and I probably won’t be as good as I was, ever, but I’m hoping to get close,” she said. “And I wouldn’t change my decision. Ever.”

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