C. Milton Wright senior field hockey player Sabrina Rhodes helped lead her team to the school's first state championship last year.
Since then, Rhodes suffered a knee injury that has kept her off the field the entire 2014 regular season.
Rhodes, a captain for the past two seasons and a midfielder with a 3.7 GPA, has stayed upbeat while her mother and coach, Janice Rhodes, and twin sister Sydney, play on.
Rhodes was hoping to be cleared to help the Mustangs make a run in defense of their state title.
How exciting was it winning school's first state field hockey crown, with your mom [coach] and sister?
It was really exciting. It just made it more special, just being like a family event. Especially me and Sydney playing together, it was really nice accomplishing something together and both getting to say that we are part of the state champion team to our family and friends and everything.
What emotions are you feeling after suffering a knee injury that sidelined you for the majority of this season?
I was definitely really upset. I just wanted to play and do what I love. I was just trying to think on the positive. Even though my senior year was jeopardized because of the injury, I still get to play with my sister in the future. I definitely had a different perspective this season on the sideline. I kind of became an extra coach instead of a player this year, so I got to help out the girls. I could see their strengths and weaknesses, and teach them what I know so they can do it out on the field, instead of me, this year.
How important is it that you are able to get back on the field in this, your senior year?
I'm really happy that I can at least play a little bit of my senior season, so I want to make the most of the playoffs. I guess, go far, just like we did last year, and I'm just really excited to get back. It's going to be more challenging, definitely. I'm not as in shape as I was last year, and I just feel like, since I've been back at practice for the past week, since I've just been released [Oct. 7], I'm working 10 times harder to get my skills back up to where they were. It's a lot more training.
How hard has it been to watch during the recovery process?
It's been really difficult. A lot of times it's like I'm watching and wishing I could help my teammates out, but it's been really good for our team this year. Everyone's really stepping up to the plate, helping us succeed this season, and it's been challenging. We've played a lot of good teams this year, and I think it was a good thing because it made people who were part of the championship team last year really step up and take those roles this year without me on the field.
What are your plans for future?
My sister and I are going to be attending University of Delaware next fall, and we'll be playing field hockey together. I'll be majoring in environmental engineering. I think she's doing exercise science. We're really excited to play together; that was our number one priority. It was to go to school and play field hockey together. My family will be moving down there, so we'll all be together.
What kind of rivalry do you have with Sydney?
We're very competitive people, especially in track. When we were little, we raced against each other a lot. When we got into high school, we kind of took different paths. I do distance, and she does sprinting. She's a goalie and I'm a field player, so we don't really like to compete against each other, 'cause when we do, we get really competitive. It's a lot better with her on my team than with her against me. Actually twice, when we went over to the Junior Olympics, we were on different teams and we had to face each other, in like one-on-ones. ... She beat me. It was really intense.
Why did you choose field hockey, and at what age did you start playing?
I played soccer up until sixth grade, and I kind of just got burned out of it. We played since we were really little. My mom was like, 'Hey, I know this sport, it's called field hockey, so we should try it out.' So, we've been playing since sixth grade; it just happened really fast. That one year my sister and I worked really hard. We worked with Alice Puckett and we joined the club that we play for, H2O. That same year we joined the USA Futures Program. I guess we really liked it a lot. We just wanted to play as much as we could. It was probably our freshman year when we started getting contacts from colleges and we decided we wanted to play together and not against each other.
Are you a cheesesteak sub or strawberry shortcake type of girl?
I'm a cheesesteak kind of girl. I just like to eat a lot. It's funny about the cheesesteak sub, because that's like my sister and I's favorite food.