The young girl held her hand and cried in pain while the other players and coach looked on. Her hand was covered with a towel but everyone knew what had happened. Making her way back to the bench and taking a closer look, did not make it better. The mangled look of her index finger made it real. The finger was broken.
For most of us, not a big deal, but for a college level volleyball player, it was very serious. Lana was a freshman at Sacramento State with a full ride scholarship. She immediately began to worry about what this meant. Her first year and she was unable to play. The coach and everyone assured her that it happens and so her freshman year became what is known as a non-eligible year. She got the benefit of being a part of the team but didn’t lose her first year of athletic eligibility. The next year would be her red-shirt year.
Year two began with high hopes and a new beginning. Soon after the practices started, Lana felt a slight pain in her knee. At first, she ignored it but soon it was affecting her jumping and ability to just play. The doctors started with a patella scrape and some injections but the struggling just continued. There were times when she would comment, “You know mom, I just feel like an elderly woman walking around.” Needless to say, she didn’t play that year as well.
Lana is a singularly focused individual and her academics were soaring but that didn’t make up for the lack of volleyball playing time. Depression with the pain and lack of playing time and night after night being benched can make a person question themselves and their abilities. Late night conversation between daughter and mom often turned to mom just saying "Maybe you should just quit if it is making you feel this way." It was Lana who said, “I just can’t quit. I have never been a quitter and so I have to keep going.”
Year three on the team was much of the same. Not much playing time and a lot of sitting. But this year was different. A determined Lana started working very hard with the team trainer. They worked so hard and so long that much of the chronic pain began to subside. She spent extra days and hours until she surpassed all the predictions. As mom puts it, “She worked like a mad woman.”
Determination goes a long way in the plight of a person who wants something to happen. That hard work and determination paid off. This last season, Lana Brown of Sacramento State, started all 36 matches and became the 11th ranked blocker in the nation. Of course, Lana Brown went to Redding Elementary Schools and was coached by Rich Hall and John Moser and her mother is Laura Brown instructional assistant at Manzanita. Congratulations to a great family and wonderfully powerful Redding alumni.
Next week is Classified School Employee Week. Our wonderful classified employees are the heartbeat that keeps the body of our district pumping each and every day. What an honor it is to work alongside you all each and every day while serving our families and our community. This next week, please say thank you to all of the dedicated classified employees in our district. They deserve our best.
https://youtu.be/AGlWK3Zze7c
Have a great weekend,