Riverside Catcher Playing With Torn ACL
Underneath the catcher leg guards of Riverside catcher Arin Quintana is a right knee that has suffered not one, but two ACL tears.
During her junior year playing basketball Arin tore the ACL in her right knee of a game. After surgery and rehab, she came back only to suffer the same fate on the same knee her senior year.
“I jumped for a rebound and landed on a girls leg,” Arin explains in her rehab session. “It just twisted, and my first thought was I couldn’t play sports after all and I was devastated.”
Despite the pain, hours in the rehab room, and hours she commits to the field, Arin is a three sport athlete. She played basketball, volleyball, and softball this year on one knee and constantly fought through the pain.
“Arin is one of those student athletes that’s a die hard,” Riverside softball coach Sergio Ramierez says. “With a torn ACL, surgery was her only bet and she told the doctor no, it’s my senior season and I want to play.”
The senior has played every game this year for Riverside.
Most people would think she’s nuts, but for her it’s a love of the game she doesn’t want to let go.
“I wanted to prove people wrong,” Arin said. “I wanted to show people I can do things with my own will power, and catching is a passion of mine I fell in love with since the fourth grade.”
Arin will have knee surgery once again to repair her torn ACL this summer. She hopes to play college softball after high school, and will have to start rehabbing once again.
She played three sports this year on one knee at Riverside, but showed her teammates and friends that a big heart and will to compete is all you need to be successful.
