By Delaine Lucas
The Citadel
Charyl Stockwell Preparatory Academy
1st Place Division 4, News Writing
Sports Feature Story
JUDGING CRITERIA
- Lead captures attention, arouses curiosity
- Emphasizes new element,fresh angle
- Colorful, lively presentation; effective form/style
- Reflects adequate research,sound interviewing techniques
- Avoids summaries of published materials
- Effective use of facts/quotes
- Interesting; appeals to the emotions
- Proper diction/grammar
Running onto Whitmore Lake’s field, suited up for the first time, he couldn’t believe he was there.
“When I think of it, I wasn’t really hearing anything. I was just so zoned in,” said Defensive Tackle Shane Lanning, who due to a continuous stress fracture in his shin thought he would be unable to play during the inaugural football season. “It was hard. There were a few times where I got pretty emotional just standing there on the sidelines, especially right before games, during the national anthem, not holding my helmet at my side like everybody else. From the first day of practice I missed, I always felt like I was letting the team down. I just really wanted to play.”
“When I saw him on the field, it brought tears to my eyes,” said Shane’s Mom who had attended every game he stood on the sidelines. “Having football finally come to CSPA was a dream come true. I knew that’s what he wanted so badly, but I worry at the same time because he was limping when he came out. Watching him in pain all the time was heartbreaking. When you see your child that upset…it made me cry all the time. So when I heard that he could suit up I was definitely really excited. But, also scared at the same time. As a mom, I was thinking about him breaking the leg or something. Honestly, I don’t know how he could possibly play with the pain he was already in before the game started.”
“I didn’t even think I was gonna go in that game,” Shane said after the 4 minutes and 35 seconds he was on the field. “I wouldn’t really say I contributed too much that night because there was no time and we were up by like 30 points but it felt really good. Just to be out there finally on the field and be apart of it and not be on the sidelines for a change. I put everything I had into those maybe eight plays and just left everything on the field.
Shane shared that he stopped playing in the seventh grade because he had a lot of concussions and other injuries. So, when athletic Laurie DeLorenzo began talking about a possible co-op with Whitmore Lake happening in the fall of his senior year, he “was definitely ready to play. I wanted to show the coach that I had a commitment from the very beginning.”
“When Shane came home and told me that there was the talk of them Co-Oping he cried on my shoulder. That’s how happy he was. He was over the moon because this was it. This was his last chance to play football,” his mom said.
But the celebration didn’t last very long.
Sitting in the doctor’s office prior to the start of the season, they received some unexpected news. After spending sixteen years on and off again with shin splints and tendonitis, the Doctor explained that his injuries had become a stress fracture. The years of running and walking on it had continued to cause more and more damage.
“I was devastated,” Shane said upon hearing the news. Trying to explain what the pain is like, he said “it’s like breaking a finger but about three times as painful of that moment of it breaking. It is constant pain because you are always walking on it, and running on it is three times more painful than that.”
Shane’s mom added that the pain was more than physical. “I don’t think people realize what a sports injury can do to a person mentally,” she said. “This made him feel worthless, useless. Every single time he goes to practice, and he can’t do anything with the team. That’s how he feels. He feels like he’s not contributing. It has been horrible. I don’t think people understand because he’s not in a cast. I don’t think they understand that he’s trying to do different doctors and off and on with the crutches, he wears braces on his legs and is constantly icing his leg, heating the leg, massaging the leg. It’s mentally draining after so many months.”
Adding to the physical and mental pain was something else.
Some may say it was the injury that caused Shane the most pain but he shared that there was an unspoken promise he made to his dad a few years ago and not being able to play meant he may not have had the chance to fulfill it.
“When the closest thing I have ever had to a dad died, I remembered he always said ‘I’d love to see you play again.” We didn’t have the best relationship. So at his funeral, I said to him that I would do my best to play again, for him. When I was in my stance that night and I was running out there he crossed my mind. I wish I knew for sure he could see me.”
“I hope that somebody can be helped from it and know that you can come back from this and it can build character,” Shane’s mom said. “ He met all these great people. The coaches are the best coaches he’s ever had in his life for any sport. He’s a better person having met them and I hope that Shane can eventually help someone that maybe have had an injury or does. He has talked about helping coach next year, and the coaches on the team have actually suggested that to him and think that would be helpful.”
While the future may look bright, one question remains. Will he be able to play again?
Quietly, Shane answered “No, I’m definitely done for the season. It was super heartbreaking at first but I have had to come to peace with it. I know I gave it everything I had. I thought I could make him proud and I hope I did”.