An athlete with an injury: Q&A with Scott Knudsen
December 17, 2019
Staff writer Juan Gonzales talks with senior Scott Knudsen about his injury, how it’s affected him and the team.
Q: How have you dealt with tearing your ACL mentally knowing you can’t play the sport you love?
A: “It has definitely made feel terrible but I have learned to realize that situations like this happen to a lot of people including the players I look up to and I simply look at the brighter side knowing that I am okay in the end.”
Senior Scott Knudsen going up against a player from Salem high school.
Q: How did you manage your time with sports, school, and stuff at home?
A: “I use the hours I don’t have class during school to get work done so I don’t need to do it at home and use the time at home to relax and can go to practice knowing I don’t have to focus on anything else and enjoy practicing techniques and lessons from my coaches and peers.”
Q: What type of skills have you been able to use besides techniques on the field?
A: “It’s always important to have strong communication and team-building skills as on the field it’s very common to make a mistake so use that mistake and realize why that happened and how you can approach it next time physically and mentally.”
Q: What are some of the reasons you have this passion for soccer?
A: “As a kid, I always enjoyed playing soccer with my friends and family and then I started getting into FIFA and professional players like Messi and Neymar or watching my favorite team Chelsea wanting to play like them.”
Q: Why are team bonding and communication skills so important to you?
A: “If there’s no team bonding then the environment is awkward on the field and some may not be able to play like how they normally do and if there’s no communication then there’s no improvement in the work ethic and in the lessons, we should take from the time playing sports with others, they are memories.
Q: If you could go back and tell your past self advice from your time playing in high school what would it be?
A: “To be responsible with the choices you make and realize the outcome, just because you are a great player on the field doesn’t mean you can not care about your work ethic academically, colleges and coaches expect more than your physical abilities.”
Senior Scott Knudsen doing his best to protect the ball when facing off with a player from Salem.
Q: Do you believe sports increase academic performance?
A: “Of course it can, it helps me concentrate more in school and I am able to approach challenges and learn how to get through them and take away more from why we do the things we have to do in class.”
Q: Finally, What have you taken out of your time playing in high school?
A: “You can always learn something new from your peers and take it into your practice and techniques and learn how it makes you better on the field.”
