Life after the ‘pop!’

By John Burbridge, sports@charlescitypress.com

Jamie Sindlinger doesn’t wish an anterior cruciate ligament injury on anyone.

“Even if someone from Waverly went down, I would feel bad for them,” the Charles City senior girls basketball player said.

Sindlinger also doesn’t want to see anyone take the lackadaisical approach she took after she tore her ACL her freshman year. That’s why she’s on teammates Samantha Heyer and Megan Staudt like beans on rice.

“She’s been getting on us about sticking to our rehab program religiously,” said freshman Heyer, who tore her ACL for the second time several weeks ago in practice. “She can be pretty intense.”

Shortly after Heyer’s injury, senior Staudt sustained a knee injury after coming down hard on one leg while trying to corral a long-short pass late in a game against Iowa Falls-Alden on Jan. 12.

Staudt hasn’t had an MRI yet to determine the extent of the injury, but she’s out for the rest of the season. So is freshman sensation Heyer, who was one of the Comets’ leading scorers.

Sindlinger believes both of her teammates will come back. She did — but it took a little attitude adjustment.

“I got my injury while guarding my sister (Jessie) in practice,” Sindlinger said. “I turned my knee but my leg stayed in one place.”

Incidentally, Jessie tore her ACL in a game later that week.

“(Jessie) took her rehab more seriously,” Sindlinger said of her sister, who is a standout golfer for Iowa University. “But I didn’t take mine seriously.

“Yeah, I had blood clots and other complications after surgery. But I was mainly depressed and frustrated about not playing sports, and didn’t work hard to recover.”

Eventually, Sindlinger picked up the pace and has recovered. In a hard-fought loss against Waukon on Tuesday, Sindlinger had 19 points and 19 rebounds.

“But I’m not back to where I should be,” Sindlinger said. “I’m still trying to make up for lost time.”

Charles City assistant coach Dan Caffrey credits Sindlinger’s leadership during a season not only plagued by injuries, but illnesses.

“The hardest thing about losing players is how it affects team morale,” Caffrey said. “Kids are forced to take on different roles.

“The key is to keep everyone in a positive state of mind.”

During her four-year tenure as Comets head coach, Danielle Rippentrop has seen six of her players go down with knee injuries.

“Three of them happened in games, three of them came in practice,” Rippentrop said. “Three of them were from contact, three of them were non-contact.

“There seems to be no rhyme or reason.”

Statistically, female athletes are more susceptible to ACL and other knee injuries.

“Women are built different, especially with the angle of our hips and legs,” Rippentrop said. “You never want it to happen, but when it does, you’ve got to readjust.

“Our girls have responded well to all that has happened this season.”

Heyer and Staudt both believe they will be back and stronger than ever.

“I don’t plan to hold back at all,” said Staudt, who hopes to recover in time for softball season.

The Comets are currently 1-11, but the loss against Waukon was one of their better games of the season. Sindlinger believes they may surprize a foe or two in the postseason.

“Everyone will be 0-0 then,” she said. “We fought through a lot of adversity this year, and we’re a much tougher team because of it.

“We might not be the best basketball players, but we’re all good athletes who play sports all year round. That’s what you do when you play for a small school.”