Super Excited to Be Back

It’s not that any injury, especially one requiring reconstructive surgery and subsequent down time, is all that convenient, but this one, a torn anterior cruciate ligament in Celie Shield’s right knee…

 

Man, what a bummer.

 

It was June 10, 2023, not long after Celie finished her sophomore year at Collegiate, that she was competing with her Yellow Jackets South lacrosse team in the Live Love Lax Summer Festival for OneLove in North East, Maryland.

 

She had played the sport since Lower School, always looked to improve her skills, and hoped to draw the attention of at least a few of the myriad college coaches on hand because the summer before junior year is prime recruiting time and she had her heart set on taking her talents to the next level.

 

“In the first game of the tournament, I was going to goal, and a girl stepped on my foot,” Celie recalled, noting that she still scored on the fateful play. “My right leg got wrapped around her leg, and I fell really weirdly on it.”

 

She sat out the remainder of the half as a precaution but returned after the break and scored two more goals. Afterwards, her knee swelled up, and she had it checked out. The initial diagnosis was a sprain or perhaps meniscus damage. Nothing serious, she hoped. Then, an MRI told the tale.

 

On June 28, she underwent surgery. Recovery time was estimated to be nine months. There would be no field hockey or basketball though lacrosse in the spring was a possibility if all went well.

 

“At first, I was really, really upset because I had worked so hard for lacrosse my whole life,” Celie said one morning recently following a workout at the Kathy Watkinson Ivins Sports Performance Center on the Robins Campus. “I was about to miss my whole recruiting summer, and I was also sad about field hockey and basketball.”

 

A positive person by nature, she didn’t remain upset for long, nor did she feel aggrieved or alone.

 

“I had a lot of friends by my side,” she said. “My basketball team came and hung out with me. My field hockey team brought me a big poster they had signed. And once you tear your ACL, it’s crazy how many people talk to you and tell you they’ve torn theirs too.”

 

There’s much about sports that Celie has always enjoyed: the competition, the camaraderie, the physical exertion, and the opportunity to test her limits and grow. Now, by virtue of one unfortunate misstep, she shifted her focus from encourager on the field to encourager from the sideline and channeled her competitive instincts to many months of physical therapy. She earned top marks in both endeavors.

 

“I liked rehab,” she said, “because there were other people there who were also recovering from ACL tears. I could see other people in the rehab who were almost recovered. That motivated me because I saw that I could come back. Rehab was definitely my sport at the time.”     

        

There was never a question that she would stay connected with her Collegiate teammates.

 

“I went to almost every game and practice for field hockey and basketball,” she said, “but it was tough to watch because I went from starter to the sideline, and I thought I could really help sometimes.”

 

That said…

 

“I really liked watching our team grow and watching players get better,” she added. “I’ve always been a positive person, and I stayed pretty positive throughout and had a chance to learn more about myself.”

 

She returned to lacrosse last spring albeit initially in a limited role.

 

“At the start of the season, I was only allowed to play one quarter, then progressively two, then three, then finally the whole game,” she said. “Even then, I wasn’t allowed to play midfield (her customary position). I had to play attack. I’m not running around as much like I am when I play midfield, and I learned to be a better attacker.”

 

Though Celie missed her recruiting summer, University of Rhode Island coach Jenna Slowey, who coached her on a travel team several years ago and had seen her play for Collegiate, offered her a chance to join the Rams’ program. She verbally committed and will sign her letter of intent on Nov. 13.

 

First things first, though.

 

It’s hockey season, and it’ll be up to her and fellow captains Maris Smutz and Katherine Rausch to set the tone for a top-tier team that lost highly decorated stalwarts Heidi Albrecht, Mary Katherine Brost, and Callie Rogers to graduation. Challenge accepted, she said.

 

“Not only am I super excited to be back,” Celie said, “but I’ve noticed so much growth in my teammates. I’m really excited to see how my teammates and I will fit into the roles of those [graduated] players and how we’ll continue to grow.”

 

Celie will anchor the defense from her left back position.

 

“Her awareness on the field, conditioning, athleticism, and presence have been really big difference makers through pre-season,” said Coach Kelsey Smither. “We’re very excited to have her back. She has a fantastic attitude, and she’s a great teammate. Her focus is building other people up and getting them excited.”

 

Three weeks into preseason, with the Cougars’ regular season opener against Assumption High (Louisville, Kentucky) at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex and Regional Training Center just a few days away, Celie is playing, Smither noted, with palpable vigor, zeal, and joie de vivre.

 

“Tearing your ACL, rehabbing, and coming back really makes you appreciate sports a lot,” Celie said. “This will be my last season of hockey. I’m just so happy to be back. I remember when I was a freshman and people cheered for me. I want to be the person who does that. Somebody told me once that people who have torn their ACL will always have something nobody else will ever have, which is the motivation, that push and that gratitude to be back on the field.”

~Weldon Bradshaw