In any given year at Archbishop Mitty, over 900 students join at least one athletic team. Each athlete’s individual skill varies, but the school-wide legacy of elite athletic performance is known around the city, state, and nation. Each season, as the black and gold take the field, excellence is the expectation, and the bar is rarely left unmet, if not raised. Everyone’s focus is on this excellence, on the win, on the growth, on the game. There is a buzz to it all—until it suddenly goes silent. A single break in the continuous flow.
An injury.
Any fan, participant, trainer, or coach in sports has witnessed an injury, but the effects are so dramatically different for each group that it is almost as if a different event occurred. In the immediate aftermath of Dre Greenlaw’s achilles tear during Super Bowl 58, for example, many of us fans simply felt a small extent of concern while the unexpected ad break rolled. For Greenlaw and the 49ers, however, it caused an emotional fracture that may very well have cost them a shot at their first Super Bowl since 1995.
The effects of injuries on players are often glossed over, but ignoring them doesn’t make them any less real. Ultimately, it is the process to return to the field or court that makes them the strongest they have ever been. But what exactly does this process look like?
Among the many injuries that have struck the Mitty sports community this year, one name stands out amongst the rest: McKenna Woliczko, current junior Varsity Women’s Basketball player, is out with a torn ACL. As the Class of 2026 Player of the Year in both her freshman and sophomore years and a two-time Gold Medalist, McKenna has played a crucial role in the success of the Women’s Basketball program.
When McKenna fell to the ground in a matchup against Ontario Christian at Carondelet High School on January 4, the gym fell silent. Carondelet staff rushed onto the court; McKenna knew something was wrong. She recalls, “As soon as I got hurt, I was devastated. It was such a sad thing to happen and know that I would not be able to play for a long time.”
The initial mental shock of the injury soon passed as she understood the severity of the situation and quickly sought medical treatment. Early intervention is vital in knee injuries, especially those involving the ACL. Timely treatment can prevent further damage and ensure full functionality of the knee in recovery, while also allowing the athlete to organize their road to recovery and map out the many months to come. McKenna followed a similar approach after her injury: “Once I got my MRI and got told I tore my ACL and had meniscus damage, I could now start making a plan to come back better than ever.”
As McKenna began the road to recovery, at first “it was a harsh couple days,” she recalls. “It is a process of ups and downs.” Torn ACL’s are notorious for ending a player’s season. On average, it takes 8-9 months to recover from the injury. But despite the challenges, McKenna persists. Many athletes can feel alone when something like this happens to them, feeling increasingly isolated from the sport they once felt practically wired to.
Yet for McKenna, she has a vast support network. For Mckenna, “knowing I had the support of my family, friends, teammates and coaches really boosted my spirits. I’m very grateful for my parents and everything they do.” With the help of those around her, McKenna is determined to rebound even stronger and dominate the court once again.
Injuries are, without a doubt, the dark side of sports, and the scope of their effects are often vastly larger than any fan realizes. For players, it can seem like the genuine end of the world. For coaches, it can throw numerous heavy and uneasy choices at them in a stunningly short amount of time. And for parents, friends, programs, legacies, an injury is the one thing that “can not happen.” But when that injury does happen, the response needs to be more powerful than almost anything else, and it is this response against the ultimate adversity that partly makes sport what it is. To McKenna and to all athletes recovering from an injury, we wish you the absolute best during your climb back up, and we know you, like so many have before, will get to the other side.