ELKHORN, Neb. (KMTV) — Adversity is a fact of life, and one way or another we're all going to face it.
For one Elkhorn girls' soccer standout adversity has shaped her high school experience.
And it was her love of competition that allowed her to adapt.
Watch Kelsey's story:
- Olivia Bailey has torn her ACL twice playing club soccer: once before her sophomore spring high school season and another before her senior spring high school season.
- With the goal of playing college soccer in mind, she joined the track team this spring to stay in shape.
- Both her coaches–Elkhorn girls’ track coach Kiley Fredrick and girls’ soccer coach Danielle Anderson–were supportive of her decision and impressed by her drive to still compete in some way.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A single pop.
"I was playing club soccer in Des Moines,” Olivia Bailey said. “I was just trying to go my hardest for the ball and then it just happened."
Olivia Bailey's first major injury–a torn ACL–her sophomore year.
"It's just a really weird feeling,” she said. “And then (I) got up and I just felt the instability of it."
After a 10 month recovery, in her junior year she helped the Antlers earn a trip to state and made First Team All-Class B.
"Just to be able to be one of the best players in the state and make all conference definitely was a proud moment,” Bailey said.
But fall 2024–the first club game–her senior season ended before it even started.
"I went to go block a girl's shot and she cut the other way,” she said. “So my foot planted and it just snapped my knee."
Another torn ACL.
"I immediately started crying,” Bailey said. “I just knew that that's what happened. The first thoughts are just like 'my senior year is gone' and everything I was looking forward to."
"I was shocked and hurt and sad,” Elkhorn girls’ soccer coach Danielle Anderson said, “but I was ready to be a support system for her."
A 2024 study found almost 70% of female athletes with ACL injuries returned to sports.
Olivia wanted to do that again.
So she joined the track team.
"I wanted to be able to compete at something and track would be my best bet of getting in shape,” Bailey said.
"I teach 8th grade math at Elkhorn Middle,” Elkhorn girls’ track & field coach Kiley Fredrick said. “I absolutely adored her in class. I was just excited to be around her for the next three months for sure."
"I wanted her to be a part of our team because I felt like she was a big piece of it,” Anderson said. “But when she told me that this was the only option for her for her recovery, there was nothing but support and love in her direction and… I could not be more proud of her.”
"She just has competitiveness in her blood that she can't deny,” Fredrick said. “There is so much drive there that it's pretty unmatched."
Olivia’s main takeaway from the last three years is gratitude.
"When workouts suck or it was a hard game, just remember that I'm grateful for the opportunity to play and be healthy,” she said.
Olivia is almost completely recovered, and her second comeback starts this fall when she plans to play soccer in college.
