You Can Do It

“Mom, did you wash my basketball uniform?”

“It should be hanging in the laundry room.”

“Can you grab it and bring it up to me? Its the first game of the season and I can’t be late.” I was in my room making a mental checklist of what I needed for the game. Shoes, check. Socks, check. Water, check.

“Honey, when do we have to go?”

I glanced at the clock. It was 5:30.

“We have to leave in 10 minutes! I have to be there at 6.” As I was grabbing the last things on my checklist, I thought about my first basketball game ever. It was back in fourth grade. We had a tournament in Melrose. Now its my first game of my senior year.

When I got to the school I rushed into the locker room to get changed into my uniform. Tonight we were playing the Rockford Rockets. This game was extremely important to me. I was team captain and the starting point guard. I was focused on winning.

“Hey Kali, are you ready for the big game?” my teammate, Courtney, asked as she walked into the locker room.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I replied sarcastically.

“Don’t worry. You’re the best girl on our team. You’ll do great.”

“Thanks. I’m just ready for it to start.”

Coach walked in and by that time all of the girls were in the locker room ready for the game. While we were talking about how to win this game, I was fidgety. The first game of the season is always a lot of pressure for me. Before I knew it, it was time to go onto the court and start warm ups.

The team crashed out of the locker room doors, ready to win. First, we did layups, then passing, then it was time to free shoot. When the time was up, everyone went to the bench and the MC announced the starters. I was the last starter to be announced. While waiting for my name to be called, I couldn’t help thinking about my future. What if this season didn’t go well? What if I didn’t get to play basketball in college? My thoughts were interrupted by the MC announcing my name. The band played the National Anthem and it was time to start.

It was time for the jump ball. We won the jump ball and I made the first shot. The Rockets then got their first shot. This pattern kept going until halftime. They got a shot, we got a shot. This pattern made the game really tiring. I couldn’t help but wish for the game to come to an end; after we won of course. The halftime score was 36 to 36.

While we were walking into the locker room for halftime Courtney said, “We need to step it up, ladies. We usually beat the Rockets. We aren’t playing as well as I know we can.”

“You girls are playing very well but you need to give it 100%. This is the first game of the season. Winning this would hopefully give us good luck for the rest of the year,” Coach added.

Coach kept talking about what we were doing wrong and what we were doing right. While she was talking, I couldn’t stop thinking about how badly my knee hurt. Before going back on the court, I took two tablets of Tylenol hoping that it would ease the pain.

The Rockets had possession first and they brought the ball up the court to their side. The point guard threw a bad pass and I got the steal. I was dribbling down the court for a layup and when I jumped I knew something wasn't right. I fell to the ground in a tremendous amount of pain. It felt like someone had stabbed me in the knee. It hurt extremely bad. As I was laying there on the floor, I was wondering what had happened. Everyone in the crowd was standing up and looking at me.

“Kali, are you okay?” Coach asked as she ran over.

“I, I, I don’t know. My knee hurts really bad and I can’t get up. It hurts really bad,” I said.

Someone from the crowd came down onto the court and started asking me questions about where the pain was. He tried to help me up but I couldn’t do it. Thinking it was pretty serious, the man called the ambulance.

Before I knew it, there was paramedics surrounding me trying to get me on a stretcher. They wheeled me out to the ambulance, hoisted me into it, and started asking questions.

“Have you ever hurt your knee before?” a woman asked.

“Not seriously. I had pain in my knee during halftime, but I took some Tylenol and then it was fine.”

“Where is the pain?” A different woman asked.

“It hurts right under my kneecap. It feels like there is a hole there.”

“She tore her ACL.”

I immediately went into shock-mode. I could not believe that I had torn ACL. Was my basketball career over? Would I ever be able to play again?

“Kali! Kali, are you okay?” I must’ve zoned out because the paramedic was yelling at me.

“I’m fine, but what about basketball? Will I ever be able to play again?”

“We will know for sure after your surgery,” the paramedic said.

“Wait, what? Surgery? Surgery? Nobody said anything about that!”

“If you ever want to play basketball again, you will have to undergo surgery.”

With all of this surgery talk, I must have forgotten about the pain in my knee because when the paramedics pulled me out of the ambulance and into the hospital I screamed because it hurt so bad.

They pushed me into the building and down a bunch of halls. People were coming from every direction, asking me the same questions that I had been asked before. Before entering the surgery room, I talked to my parents and Courtney and they all assured me that everything was going to be okay and that I would be fine.

We entered the operating room and the anesthesiologist gave me a shot to go unconscious. While waiting to do unconcious, I remember thinking about the game. I was wondering if we won or not. I knew I probably wouldn’t be able to play again, but I knew that I was going to try.

The next thing I knew, I was awake and the surgery was over. My knee was in a little pain but not nearly as bad as before. All I remember was that people were coming and visiting me all day. There was people I knew, people I didn’t know, friends, relatives, and my parents. I felt like I was sleeping while everyone was visiting me.

The next day, the doctor told me that I would have to wait another day to walk.I thought that all of that waiting was going to be the death of me. I could not wait to at least try to play basketball again. I wasn’t cleared to play basketball until I had 4 months of physical training.

On the first day of my physical training, my knee still really hurt. After a few minutes of stretching and moving my knee around, it felt much better. I actually enjoyed physical training. I went to physical training every day. I also went to the gym at my school and did a lot of shooting practice. I couldn’t actually play competitive basketball, but I could practice my shot. I bet I shot around 500 shots a day.


After recovery, I returned to school and found out that the basketball team was doing really well. I was really excited to play with them again. We had our next game in one week. I had to practice a lot to feel comfortable on the court again. Playoffs had already started. We won all three of our playoff games. We were headed to state.

The state basketball tournament was the most nerve-racking thing ever. We did really well at state, however. My team had won the Class A State Girls’ Basketball Tournament.

I had scouts talking to me after the tournament. I was offered a full scholarship to the University Of Connecticut. College basketball was great, but I needed more.

After playing in college, I was accepted into the pros. I played for the Minnesota Lynx for 6 years.

Tearing my ACL was hard, but I don’t think I would be here today if it wouldn’t have happened. Overcoming my injury was hard, but my story shows that you can do it.