ACL injuries not always the end

By FAITH MOLDAN / Bigfork Eagle

"The silent E. It's ended more careers than the torn ACL," reads an ESPN advertisement for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

As a journalist, more specifically a sportswriter, I saw the humor and sadness in that statement right away.

In my life I've seen and known far too many people in their prime that have had to have knee surgery to repair a torn ligament — my cousin Jeff, friend Brian, classmate Erin and countless athletes here in Bigfork. The things is, they didn't let their injuries end their careers.

All their injuries came before they'd reached their 18th birthdays and occurred during athletic events or practice. That's where the similarities end really. Each person's story is different.

What isn't different is that the majority of the people I know who were injured are female. It's a simple truth that women are prone to ACL tears and injuries more than men because of the way their bodies are built. That doesn't mean that women are not strong and capable of athletic endeavors, it means that they need to be better trained and take preventative measures.

There's no way my cousin Jeff could have prevented the other team's linebacker from smashing into his knee with his helmet other than not playing football. Whereas the female athletes, though, they more often than not did not land correctly, whether they were completing a simple jump stop or landed on someone else's foot. Their own bodies created enough pressure to tear a ligament in their knee.

What is the correct way to land after jump stopping, rebounding or spiking a volleyball? Crouched and in the typical athletic ready/defensive stance. I have the ready stance ingrained in my mind still from softball and volleyball practice in middle school and high school. What the coaches didn't harp on and teach us — female athletes — more was what we needed to do to avoid injuries such as an ACL tear.

Yes, we stretched and ran and did cool down exercises too but until now I never knew that I was more at risk than my male counterparts. And it's not just competitive athletes that are susceptible to an injury like that. Take a few runs down Big Mountain or Blacktail on any given weekend and you could hurt your knee. Some athletes suffer injuries during celebrations before or after games — jumping to high five a teammate or the ever-popular chest bump. I'm almost scared now to climb up on a table or countertop in my house to hammer a nail in the wall. What if I come down wrong on my knee when I'm done hanging the picture frame?

No need to live in fear though and be timid. I've learned that much from the doctors, coaches and athletes that I've spoken with in the past two weeks. If that had happened, women would still be stuck playing half-court basketball and not tearing up the hardwood like the Valkyries do on a regular basis. It's simple knowledge and preventative measures like learning how to land correctly and strengthening your legs that will help keep more girls and women from going under the knife. It's hard work and dedication before and after an injury to keep an athlete from ending their career.