Just a Bump in the Road
By Casey Bacot for COMM-200 at American University
For 19-year-old Lizzie de Guzman, lacrosse is more than just a hobby. Since the age of 5, de Guzman has fallen in love with the sport, so much so that her life goal was to play at the collegiate level. For her, the dozens of hours of practice a week, causing her to have a rigorous academic and athletic schedule, are worth the satisfaction of competing with her university’s team. There was only one thing that could stand in the way of a perfect four years of playing: a life-altering injury. Little did she know that would be her reality.
de Guzman was recruited to play on the American University women’s lacrosse team in November of 2018, during her junior year of high school. This decision came after years in the recruitment process, which she said began informally for her in 2016. When explaining why she chose AU, the Marylander said, “I wanted to stay close to home, but knew DC would be an exciting city to live in.” She also expressed the importance of strong academics and a friendly team culture that the AU lacrosse program was able to provide.
She began her college career in the Fall of 2020. The freshman attacker arrived at practice on March 23, 2021, as if it was any other day. She had no idea that this practice would be her last normal one for months. While playing during a scrimmage drill, every player’s worst fear came true for de Guzman. She explained that she jumped to dodge the defender’s play and landed on her knee, causing a loud pop to come from it. She said that although she had never experienced the injury before, she and the entire team knew exactly what had just happened. After an MRI the following day, de Guzman was told that her ACL had torn and that surgery and intense rehabilitation were to begin immediately.
This undesirable news did not stop de Guzman from following her dreams. A ruptured ACL does not mean the end to an athletic career. Every year in the United States alone, about 100,000 to 200,000 people tear their ACL, making it a somewhat common injury. Although de Guzman knew that she would be able to return to the field eventually, she said her time off of it gave her an opportunity to discover other passions. “Because I began playing lacrosse so competitively from such a young age,” she explained, “it became my main outlet to relieve stress.” After her injury, she could no longer head to the field whenever she needed to relieve any pressure. This inspired her to try other activities when she was not doing physical therapy.
de Guzman is not the only one on her team who is currently injured. Her teammate, Cate Golden, is in a similar situation. She tore her ACL, MCL, and meniscus just two weeks before de Guzman’s injury occurred. In an interview, she explained that her situation was different from de Guzman’s as she is a graduate student and this is her final season. “Lizzie and I still attend every game to cheer on our teammates even though we are not able to be on the field ourselves,” she said. Golden also explained that “being out of practice for so long because of COVID has increased the number of injuries on not only her team but everywhere.” As of the interview, there are three players who are currently recovering from ACL-related injuries and five others who are injured in other ways.
Although she has lost some of her freshman and sophomore seasons, de Guzman says that she is working hard in rehabilitation and knows that “all the work [she is] putting in now will make [her] first season back that much more fun and exciting.”
