Naperville North forward Claire DeCook was a freshman sensation last season, enjoying life in the fast lane of high school soccer.
All of 14 years old, DeCook had 16 goals and six assists in her first 13 games, stamping her as one of the best rookies in the state.
Then it all came to a grinding halt when she suffered a torn ACL in her right knee.
“It’s very eye-opening when something that you think is just a given is taken away from you,” DeCook said. “After the surgery, it took me two minutes to get up the stairs, which would usually take me like 10 seconds on a normal day.”
The injury shattered DeCook’s sense of normalcy and challenged her sense of self. The pain alone tested her mentally as well as physically.
“After the surgery, you feel everything in your knee,” she said. “You feel pain all the time, and every day was another step to make sure I didn’t feel anything.
“I’m probably the least patient person you will ever meet, so I guess that I’ve learned to accept things and take little steps toward a goal.”
ACL injuries are devastating, especially for athletes who rely on speed and strength, both of which DeCook has in abundance.
“You can do a basic Google search, and people will say what they did when they tore their ACL, but no one will really tell you on the mass deficit that you lose in your legs,” she said. “Before surgery, I felt like my leg was barely hanging on because my left quad was so muscular and then my right just felt like a limb.”
Some players never return to full strength after suffering an ACL injury. That prospect was frightening for DeCook.
“After tearing my ACL, I felt almost like a loss of identity at first because soccer was such a main priority for me,” she said. “I didn’t really know what else I would do with myself.”
But DeCook approached her rehab the way she takes on opposing defenses — with vigor and determination.
“It was crushing for us to see her go down, but the way she attacked her rehab from the first day was incredible,” Naperville North coach Steve Goletz said.
DeCook had plenty of support.
“Tearing your ACL is a very lonely path that you can take, but family was there for me 24/7,” she said. “North is such a good community when you need help.
“I made so many good friends here. Even the lacrosse coach checked in on me, and before school every day Goletz was always there for me to do the ice machine and everything.”
DeCook was cleared to return just seven months after surgery and is expected to start for the Huskies when they host Barrington in the season opener on Monday.
“There’s still a little bit of rust to knock off, but you can see (the explosiveness) is there,” Goletz said. “She looks like herself, which is great, and she’s only going to continue to get better.”
That’s a scary thought for opponents.
“There wasn’t a team we played last year where a coach didn’t say, ‘Who is that kid?’” Goletz said. “Everybody could see that she is special.
“Claire is a great soccer player, but her work rate sets her apart from a lot of kids that I’ve coached, and we have kids that play hard each and every game. She has the motor to just do the dirty work all the time.”
Goletz gave one example from a game against Evanston.
“Claire back-tackles, takes it off their center back, and turns and ropes one in, and we’re up 1-0 against the run of play,” he said. “That’s the kind of thing she can do. She does such a great job of making it uncomfortable for opposing teams.”
DeCook was one of just three freshmen to earn all-state honors from the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association last season. While Goletz is trying to temper her expectations in the early going, DeCook is determined to open the throttle while taking nothing for granted.
“I obviously want to score more goals because I set that standard freshman year,” DeCook said. “But I also want to prioritize making sure my body is healthy because now I really know what an injury is.
“Someone could roll their ankle and say they’re hurt, but taking a year off from soccer is major. The fact that I’m able to do something that makes me so happy every day is great, especially since I haven’t been doing it for so long.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
