Imagine playing a sport for over seven years, having poured out countless hours training and perfecting your craft and in the blink of an eye being told you can no longer play or compete.
Senior Lauren Buchanan has been a manager for the Westminster girls volleyball team for two years. She showed up to every practice, game, and tournament she could, ranging from 2 hour practices, to 11 hour tournaments on the weekends.
Lauren has had issues with her ankle since 7th grade. Directly after her freshman season as a starter on JV, she found out she had developed osteochondritis dissecans. OCD is a condition that arises in joints when the bone separates from the area it is intended to be in. As long as the OCD remained, she would not be able to continue to play volleyball.
Laurens family and doctor decided it would be best for her to have surgery in order to help fix the issue. Despite the high expectations the surgery failed, causing her to need a second surgery just over a year later that would prove to be a failure as well. This led to Lauren not being able to play her Junior season.
“Being told I couldn’t play was extremely difficult, but I was even more determined to get better quickly and come back next year,” Lauren says.
She continued to work hard and push through the difficult physical therapy in hopes of being able to play her senior season. Lauren stood by the volleyball team’s side all of junior year cheering on her friends and encouraging her teammates when they were down.
Laurens hopes and desires to play her last year of highschool volleyball were crushed when her doctor informed her a third surgery would be necessary.
Lauren explains how “Finding out I wasn’t able to play my senior year was extremely heartbreaking, it was really sad”.
Regardless of the fact Lauren knew that she had no chance of playing her senior year, she decided to come back and manage again. The main factors keeping her managing the volleyball team were the tight knit, close group of girls that had formed over the past three years, and her family.
“My sister made varsity, and I wanted to be a part of the volleyball community, and get to see my friends everyday. I love all of the girls on the team and Kamia who manages with me. I also love volleyball and can’t imagine walking away from it forever” states Lauren.
Despite this, it is no easy task to watch her friends play the sport she loves knowing she can’t participate.
“It is really hard to watch all my friends and my sister play volleyball everyday, I have been looking forward to playing on varsity with my sister and my friends since middle school,” Lauren explains.
Although she can’t directly affect the outcome of the games from the court, there is no doubt that she has affected the team from the sidelines.
“Lauren being here means a lot, she gives us really good advice, and continues to cheer us on no matter what” says senior varsity volleyball player Myah DeRossett.
Head varsity volleyball coach Ben Briney adds that “Lauren being willing to continue to be involved with the team as a manager after all the adversity she has been through with her injury means a lot. She is a huge help in so many different ways in practice and during matches. It is pretty awesome when someone who was used to playing, but now can’t due to an injury, still wants to have an impact on the program”.
The impact Lauren has had on the varsity team is made clear by talking to anyone on the team. Through the struggles of navigating a relentless injury, Lauren has remained loyal to her friends and teammates, staying by their sides throughout everything. Her story is truly an impressive example of dedication overcoming despair.
