Club Volleyball: Horror and Pride

It's  just another game in a long day of action and breaks. Some emotions are beginning to percolate as the team has struggled and she's missed some balls. Kate's in the back row and goes low to dig out a serve.  But her knee crumples and she goes down like a rock. I know something's wrong and I begin to move towards her. But the play is still going on and I can only watch from the sideline as she struggles to get up then collapses again in tears. As a parent, you've probably all been there. Time slows down and this focus to comfort your kid takes over. I got to her in seconds and just told her to takes some breaths and sit there for a moment with me. As someone who has seen a lot of athletes go down with a knee injury I see the rest of the season and the summer flash before my eyes for her sake. She is still crying but I know these tears and they're more tears of frustration than pain. I tell her we're going to get up and get over to the sideline, but she pushes me aside and says she's fine. I help her up and she limps to base and growls an "I'm fine" through the tears which continued to flow for the next several minutes. Her teammates were considerate and supportive and she went through the rest of the game in a kind of fog, but soon enough things began to feel normal and by the afternoon pool she was her regular self.

The whole incident lasted less that 10 minutes and I went from the numb horror of seeing my little girl hurt, to the pride of seeing her bounce back. I've always been the dad who says "shake it off" when she gets dinged up. I wanted her to know that athletes have to fight through things when they don't feel well. Today's collapse wasn't something I thought she'd be able to shake off, but she did. In a big way. Something clicked in her today; a tenaciousness and spirit that fully emerged. She started today as a 14 year old who plays volleyball. She left that gym today a warrior.