When I first got my diagnosis of an ACL tear, I instantly thought back about my dreams of playing in college. At first, I saw them slipping away, which is what caused most of my depressed feelings for the first week.
However, my AAU coach would not let that happen. He has talked to almost every coach at every school that I am interested in, and they all are interested in me. He made sure that I didn't give up, and told me to email coaches and tell them about myself. This is with a little help from technology. My last high school season was filmed and posted online, so I was able to share that publicly and send the link to all of the college coaches who I am interested in playing for.
I knew ACL tears were frequent among girl basketball players. But I didn't think that coaches would want anything to do with an injured player. I was very wrong. Because it is so frequent, many of the coaches I have been in contact with shared with me the number of players they've had who have had some sort of ACL injury. They said they were no stranger to it, and knew that it is very possible to come back better than ever.
These emails were the final push I needed to get serious about my recovery and PT. If they believed I could come back, and they were willing to keep recruiting me, I knew I had to prove to myself that I was worth it. I didn't want to let myself or these coaches down.
Granted, these aren't D1 coaches, mostly D3. But as odd as it sounds, that is my dream - D2 or 3 basketball. I don't need the days and weeks of travel, or competition that goes with being a D1 athlete. I've always known I'll need a career after basketball (psychology or a coach), and I know that I have to be able to focus in school to make that happen. To me, D3 is the perfect option. It's still intense and competitive, and you're playing with great players, but it's not as demanding.
With my recovery, I've had to stick with one day at a time.
But with continuing my basketball career, I have to look ahead because there is no "right now". I am determined to play basketball in college, and I will love every minute of it.
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