Emily's Story

This is Emily, a senior wing on our team this year. Let me tell you Emily's story. Two years ago as a sophomore, she broke her arm early in the season and missed the whole year. Last year as a junior, she played sparingly. This, her senior season, was going to be her year. A week into the season, she injured her knee in practice, sat out a few days, then played a few minutes in our first game. The next week in practice, she reinjured her knee after trying to return. This time, the MRI told the tale no one wanted to hear: a torn meniscus and ACL. Her season, and her high school basketball career, were over. But since that devastating news, Emily has not missed a practice, and has been a fixture on the bench during games. I told her that I now considered her one of our coaches, someone close to the game, close to the players. She's with us all the way.

One can read the sports pages and find out the winners and losers of games, but stories like Emily's go largely unknown save for a precious few close to the team. This young lady could have gone home to forget about basketball, but she chose to be with us, to cheer us, to be with us when we lose or win, or be with us after a grinding two hour practice. She's with us, bum knee and shining spirit. She's with us.

We have dedicated our season to Emily - "L - Train", I nicknamed her. Many hearts broke along with Emily's knee that day, but she has persevered. She stayed with us. We're all winners when Emily's with us.