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That ACL tear that every athlete fears has grown increasingly prevalent in women's sports. I thought this story was worth passing on as it highlights how serious this issue has become in women's high school basketball.
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Another North Jersey girls basketball season, another string of knee surgeries
Northern Valley at Old Tappan's Ariana Chipolone walks off the court with a full leg brace during the Bergen County girls basketball tournament at Ramapo College on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016. She tore her ACL two weeks ago.
Some players talk about a popping sound.
Then there’s the pain, of course.
But when it comes to high school girls basketball players and the dreaded ACL knee injury, there’s often one unmistakable sign that cannot be ignored.
Just listen to the scream.
“As soon as a kid goes down, there’s a scream,” said Pascack Valley high school coach Jeff Jasper. “When I hear that scream, I know we’re not dealing with a sprained ankle.
“There’s something about that scream. They’re all the same. When you hear it, you know.”
Knee injuries have been devastating girls basketball lineups in North Jersey the past few seasons. You can’t go into a gym without seeing the telltale brace on a girl’s knee or an aluminum crutch leaning against a chair on the team bench.
“I never thought it would happen to me,” said Northern Valley at Old Tappan senior guard Ariana Chipolone, a North Jersey Player of the Year candidate who tore her ACL two weeks ago.
“I’ve never even been injured before. You never, ever think this would happen to you. But as soon as I hit the floor, I knew it was my ACL and my season was over.”
Chipolone, who is scheduled for surgery on Thursday, doesn’t have to look far for empathy. Teammate Alexie Piccinich suffered her second ACL injury earlier this season, and sophomore center Alex George has returned after having the same injury last season.
There also are plenty of inspiring comeback stories across North Jersey, such as Northern Valley at Demarest junior guard Mackenzie Press and DePaul senior guard Nikki Johnson. Both missed last season rehabbing the injury and returned as effective players.
Knee injuries are the most common cause of permanent disability in female high school basketball players, according to a 2011 report in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. They account for up to 91 percent of season-ending injuries and 94 percent of injuries requiring surgery.
The same report said that in |the United States, 20,000 to 80,000 high school female athletes experience ACL injuries each year, with most occurring in soccer and basketball.
“I’ve seen it happen to eighth-graders,” said DePaul girls basketball coach David Andre. “When it happens to kids so young, it’s scary.
“I wish we could say that at places like Tennessee, Texas and UConn and Rutgers, the trainers are doing such great things that it doesn’t happen. But even at those places, places that have the best trainers and best training facilities anywhere, these injuries still happen. That’s scary.”
Safety, rule changes
Experts theorize that women and girls may be more prone to non-contact ACL injuries because they run and cut sharply in a more erect posture than males. Girls also tend to bend their knees less when landing from a jump, putting more pressure on the joints.
Studies also point to the anatomic differences between boys and girls. Girls have wider hips and a smaller notch that the ligament threads through to connect to the femur, leaving less room for movement.
Another theory is that estrogen can make tendons more relaxed and therefore more susceptible to tears. Other studies focus on overuse and specializing in only one sport.
“Safety and rule changes are the key to cutting down injuries,” said Dr. Vincent K. McInerney of St. Joseph Healthcare System in Wayne, a nationally renowned orthopedist who is the team physician for Montclair State University, the Jackals independent baseball team and 15 high schools. “We need to educate girls on how they move in space, how they run, how they jump.”
McInerney said that girls moving at high speed can’t control their knees or landing properly. He said rules on dribbling should be enforced, instead of having girls playing the power game like boys.
“They palm the ball and take three to five steps and no one calls it,” McInerney said. “We’re allowing greater acceleration, which means they are jumping higher at a greater speed and landing harder. Women’s knees are not meant to take that beating.”
Difficult recovery
The injury itself is bad. But the worst part might be the lengthy and at times torturous rehabilitation.
“It was life-changing,” said Johnson, who has a scholarship to Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C. “I was never hurt before, not even a sprained ankle. When it happened, there was no snap or anything like that.
“I just went in for a layup, a girl hit me, and I landed wrong. My knee started hurting like I bumped knees with someone. I had pain, but not pain like you see in the movies.”
Johnson said her rehab, which took six to eight months, was particularly grueling.
“I had to get my hamstring and thigh muscle working,” Johnson said. “I had to learn to walk again, to go up stairs before I could even run or pick up a basketball.”
Northern Valley at Demarest coach Jen Jurjevic said the injury can be more emotionally and mentally draining than physically challenging. Chipolone said she’s ready for just that challenge.
“It’s made me mentally stronger,” Chipolone said. “I mean, it [stinks] now, but I’m going to come back better and stronger.
“I know that mentally, if you’re out of it, if you don’t work on getting better, you’ll become depressed and it takes even longer. I have to be mentally strong to have a faster recovery.”
Chipolone went on a recruiting visit to Fordham on Monday, and Rams’ head coach Stephanie Gaitley made her feel at ease.
“It’s funny,” Chipolone said. “I walked in with the brace, and she told me half the team has had an ACL tear. It’s so common. It happens all the time.
“So I’m part of the ACL club. I never thought I’d say that, but it’s going to be OK. It’s really going to be O
.
Another North Jersey girls basketball season, another string of knee surgeries
Northern Valley at Old Tappan's Ariana Chipolone walks off the court with a full leg brace during the Bergen County girls basketball tournament at Ramapo College on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016. She tore her ACL two weeks ago.
Some players talk about a popping sound.
Then there’s the pain, of course.
But when it comes to high school girls basketball players and the dreaded ACL knee injury, there’s often one unmistakable sign that cannot be ignored.
Just listen to the scream.
“As soon as a kid goes down, there’s a scream,” said Pascack Valley high school coach Jeff Jasper. “When I hear that scream, I know we’re not dealing with a sprained ankle.
“There’s something about that scream. They’re all the same. When you hear it, you know.”
Knee injuries have been devastating girls basketball lineups in North Jersey the past few seasons. You can’t go into a gym without seeing the telltale brace on a girl’s knee or an aluminum crutch leaning against a chair on the team bench.
“I never thought it would happen to me,” said Northern Valley at Old Tappan senior guard Ariana Chipolone, a North Jersey Player of the Year candidate who tore her ACL two weeks ago.
“I’ve never even been injured before. You never, ever think this would happen to you. But as soon as I hit the floor, I knew it was my ACL and my season was over.”
Chipolone, who is scheduled for surgery on Thursday, doesn’t have to look far for empathy. Teammate Alexie Piccinich suffered her second ACL injury earlier this season, and sophomore center Alex George has returned after having the same injury last season.
There also are plenty of inspiring comeback stories across North Jersey, such as Northern Valley at Demarest junior guard Mackenzie Press and DePaul senior guard Nikki Johnson. Both missed last season rehabbing the injury and returned as effective players.
Knee injuries are the most common cause of permanent disability in female high school basketball players, according to a 2011 report in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. They account for up to 91 percent of season-ending injuries and 94 percent of injuries requiring surgery.
The same report said that in |the United States, 20,000 to 80,000 high school female athletes experience ACL injuries each year, with most occurring in soccer and basketball.
“I’ve seen it happen to eighth-graders,” said DePaul girls basketball coach David Andre. “When it happens to kids so young, it’s scary.
“I wish we could say that at places like Tennessee, Texas and UConn and Rutgers, the trainers are doing such great things that it doesn’t happen. But even at those places, places that have the best trainers and best training facilities anywhere, these injuries still happen. That’s scary.”
Safety, rule changes
Experts theorize that women and girls may be more prone to non-contact ACL injuries because they run and cut sharply in a more erect posture than males. Girls also tend to bend their knees less when landing from a jump, putting more pressure on the joints.
Studies also point to the anatomic differences between boys and girls. Girls have wider hips and a smaller notch that the ligament threads through to connect to the femur, leaving less room for movement.
Another theory is that estrogen can make tendons more relaxed and therefore more susceptible to tears. Other studies focus on overuse and specializing in only one sport.
“Safety and rule changes are the key to cutting down injuries,” said Dr. Vincent K. McInerney of St. Joseph Healthcare System in Wayne, a nationally renowned orthopedist who is the team physician for Montclair State University, the Jackals independent baseball team and 15 high schools. “We need to educate girls on how they move in space, how they run, how they jump.”
McInerney said that girls moving at high speed can’t control their knees or landing properly. He said rules on dribbling should be enforced, instead of having girls playing the power game like boys.
“They palm the ball and take three to five steps and no one calls it,” McInerney said. “We’re allowing greater acceleration, which means they are jumping higher at a greater speed and landing harder. Women’s knees are not meant to take that beating.”
Difficult recovery
The injury itself is bad. But the worst part might be the lengthy and at times torturous rehabilitation.
“It was life-changing,” said Johnson, who has a scholarship to Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C. “I was never hurt before, not even a sprained ankle. When it happened, there was no snap or anything like that.
“I just went in for a layup, a girl hit me, and I landed wrong. My knee started hurting like I bumped knees with someone. I had pain, but not pain like you see in the movies.”
Johnson said her rehab, which took six to eight months, was particularly grueling.
“I had to get my hamstring and thigh muscle working,” Johnson said. “I had to learn to walk again, to go up stairs before I could even run or pick up a basketball.”
Northern Valley at Demarest coach Jen Jurjevic said the injury can be more emotionally and mentally draining than physically challenging. Chipolone said she’s ready for just that challenge.
“It’s made me mentally stronger,” Chipolone said. “I mean, it [stinks] now, but I’m going to come back better and stronger.
“I know that mentally, if you’re out of it, if you don’t work on getting better, you’ll become depressed and it takes even longer. I have to be mentally strong to have a faster recovery.”
Chipolone went on a recruiting visit to Fordham on Monday, and Rams’ head coach Stephanie Gaitley made her feel at ease.
“It’s funny,” Chipolone said. “I walked in with the brace, and she told me half the team has had an ACL tear. It’s so common. It happens all the time.
“So I’m part of the ACL club. I never thought I’d say that, but it’s going to be OK. It’s really going to be O
