When it comes to sports, they’re usually filled with team work, fun, and, unfortunately, injuries. During this fall season, two Lodi High School seniors experienced season ending injuries. Since both athletes have been varsity players since their freshmen year, this news came with a great deal of heart break. Varsity football player, Steven Vasquez, and varsity soccer player, Hardeep Kaur sat down with me to discuss how they felt about these experiences.

Interview with Steven Vasquez:

Injury: Tore ACL

Q: How does it feel being on the sidelines?

A: “Being on the sidelines makes me feel very miserable because I could be out there helping out the team but I can’t due to my injury. It hurts me so much because I know when our team is at full effect, we can be very dangerous on the field to our opponents.”

Q: How has your injury impacted your team?

A: “Our team has a very unique brotherhood bond that is so tight, so I know that when one of our brothers gets hurt, everyone on the team feels the pain, especially when one gets taken out for the season. I also feel like it shocked everyone because out of all things that could’ve happened, I never thought I would be injured and out for my final season of high school football.”

Q: How did you feel in that exact moment you realized it was your last game of the season?

A: “In that moment when I got hurt I felt as if I lost everything.That week of me tearing my ACL was one of the worst weeks of this year. And that injury felt as if I put the icing on the cake to all the things going on in that week for me. I was honestly more frustrated and very down more than anything because I knew that, that was it. That was the end of my high school football journey, and I felt a very big wave of regret because I didn’t get to accomplish everything that I wanted to do this season. The season was just starting to pick up for me around the time of I got injured, but now I got to work to get back on my feet.” 

Q: What is your favorite memory from your senior season?

A: “My favorite memory was the bus ride home after we beat Becton High School. During the ride home, everyone on the bus was just cracking jokes and we were all having the best time. After the ride back, we had a dance party in the locker room. It was by far one of my favorite memories of my final season.”

Interview with Hardeep Kaur:

Injury: Broken nose

Q:How does it feel being on the sidelines?

A: “Being a starter for four years and now being on the sidelines is not a pleasant feeling. However, that hasn’t stopped me from being there. Through the course of my injury, I remained by my coach’s side each game, yelling my heart out. Also, I chose to be ball girl because running down the lines is way better than keeping the bench warm.”

Q: How has your injury impacted your team?

A: “My injury caused my teammates to play positions that they normally don’t play. For example, Andrea Vasquez had to drop back from playing forward to midfield in order to play my position causing Camilla Diaz to play forward alone. At times, Daysia Bubenik was brought up to take my position, and in doing so, she was taken out of the defense line.”

Q: How did you feel in that exact moment you realized it was your last game of the season?

A: “When the incident first happened I was in shock. All I can remember was Andrea running towards me saying, “Hardeep your nose.” At that point I knew something was wrong. So when I went to the hospital, I knew that my nose had broke. But, it only hit me when the doctor told me I couldn’t finish my season. In that moment I stared at my coach and began to cry.” 

Q: What is your favorite memory from your senior season?

A: “My favorite memory was the Saturday meetings that we held throughout the season. These meetings made us become closer together, which then led us to have more trust on the field, hence playing with the confidence that we were surrounded by players that always had our backs.”