The ball is inbounded and the point guard takes it up the court. The ball is passed inside, a shot goes up, and it comes off the rim. Senior Erika Nettles jumps up for the rebound, a routine movement she’s done a thousand times. This time though, Nettles collapses after her feet hit the court. Her teammates quickly surround her to help her up, and she waves them away. Still, she can’t get up, so her teammates help her walk to the bench. It was her junior year, and Nettles suffered a torn ACL as well as a torn medial and lateral meniscus.
“I was angry, I was upset, I was mad,” Nettles said. “[I thought], ‘Why did this happen to me?’”
Nettles spent the rest of her junior year in and out of physical therapy, rebuilding her muscles and learning how to walk again. She eventually was cleared that June.
In her senior year, Nettles was able to fully participate in sports again, but this didn’t last very long. Last fall, during volleyball practice, she tore her ACL and lateral and medial meniscus, this time on her right leg.
“With my second injury, I realized that I could use this as a stepping stone to move me forward, or I can take it as a sign from God to pursue other things such as dance or other things that I like to do,” Nettles said. “I’ve taken this as a stepping stone and I’ve pushed myself forward, and I have a new attitude and a better belief in why this is happening to me.”
Over her high school career, Nettles has been a part of many organizations and activities. In addition to volleyball, basketball and track, she also has been in dance for four years, including dance ensemble this year. Additionally, Nettles is the president of My Sister’s Keeper, a club promoting women’s success and unity at Northwood.
“She’s just this light when she walks into the room,” dance teacher Leah Wilhelm said. “Everyone just loves Erika because she doesn’t take herself too seriously, but she gets the job done. She’s dependable too—everyone can depend on Erika Nettles.”
Nettles’ classmates and teachers know her for various reasons, but when people talk about her, they all seem to say similar things. Senior Morgan Simmons, a close friend, says that Nettles is a leader and that her work ethic sets her apart.
“She is one of the hardest working people I know,” Simmons said. “I’d be surprised to encounter somebody that didn’t know her name… for a good reason.”
ACL tears usually require six months at minimum for recovery, so when Nettles was injured (both the first and second times), it was hard for her to be a part of clubs and sports. As a successful athlete and dancer, this frustrated her, because she missed valuable time honing her skills and contributing to her teams. Nettles is also a prospective college basketball player, so two injuries of this magnitude heavily impacted the amount of recruitment that she received.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen Erika cry, and I think that if it were me… and this happened to me not once but twice, I would be in tears almost every day,” Wilhelm said. “Somehow she pushed through, and she always made it positive. She was like, ‘Okay, this happened to me, let’s deal with it and move on.’”
Despite the setbacks, Nettles has still continued to train in the gym and on the track to continue to strengthen and improve herself to return to the court. She has received multiple offers to continue her basketball career in college, and she has committed to Bridgewater College in Virginia last month.
“Junior year is the year you get looked at and colleges are looking at you to play for their school,” Nettles said. “It’s been very stressful and disappointing, because I know I’m good, but I’ve torn both of my ACLs… I’ve been thankful to get many more offers to play basketball.”
Through her injuries, Nettles remained loyal to her teammates and coaches and maintained the mindset that even if she was physically unable to perform, she was still an important part of the team.
“For me as a person, I know I’m injured, but I’m still willing to help,” Nettles said. “I’m still willing to be a part of [everything]. I never thought I was going to be able to pursue any athletic career… For me to have opportunities to still play and still go to school and be a normal student is really amazing to me.”
Senior Natalie Womble, a teammate on the basketball team, commented on the leadership that Nettles showed even while she was injured.
“Every practice we had with basketball, she was always there,” Womble said. “She’s a huge supporter of [the basketball team]. Whenever any of us had a bad game, she would come talk to us on the bench and make sure we were doing okay.”
Because of this mindset, basketball Coach Cameron Vernon believes that Nettles’ abilities extend farther than sports.
“She’s a great kid,” Vernon said. “She works hard in the classroom; she’s a great role model. She’s going to do great things in our world that have nothing to do with basketball.”
– By Harper Johnson
