Hard-luck Walker endures
long wait at New Trier
By Michael Wojtychiw
Two years ago, Grace Walker was one of only two freshmen to make the New Trier varsity, joining classmate Mia Sedgwick as the lone first year's playing for the Trevians' top-level squad.
Walker saw action in all of the Trevians' games that season as they made a fifth-consecutive trip to the state title game, before falling in the title game to Barrington on PKs.
As the campaign went on, she saw more playing time and began letting the game come to her instead of trying to force things.
"It's such an amazing thing when kids come into high school," coach Jim Burnside said. "In their own world, they think, 'I'm going to step onto this field. I started every game since I was playing at the park district, and I'm going to do the same thing.'
"When she first got out there, she was good, but what I said to her was, 'The one thing you need to bring is energy. The other stuff that you've been able to get away with over the years, it's all great, but we got to build some different things, because you can't cut corners. There's a system to this. All I want you to bring for the next season is energy.'
"She bought into that. It was literally an 'I'm going to go out there. I might be on for five minutes. I might be on for 25 minutes, but I am going to run myself semi-intelligently into the ground. Then, make way for my teammates to come in.' She bought into that, which is a huge step. Not every freshman that makes the team buys into that."
Following that freshman season, Walker sprained her ankle in a club game in September, 2018. The injury became worse and eventually led to surgery to fix a micro-fracture in her right ankle.
During last season's tryouts, she found out she needed additional surgery, which she had done on March 7. Having that surgery meant she was a scratch for her sophomore season, one in which she would likely have gotten a bigger role on the squad.
"It was devastating," Walker said. "I was so excited for the season. I was excited because I was going to have more of a leadership role. I was excited because I love soccer, and I love this team. So, it was really hard for sure.
"But in order to cope with that, I made it a point to go to every practice and every game. I would reschedule physical therapy just so I could make it to stuff, because I wanted to be there. I wanted to be part of the team even though I couldn't contribute how I wanted to."
Rehab was tough and time consuming for Walker.
Four or five times a week, she'd head off to rehab. Two weeks after surgery, she was cleared to start walking in a pool, because she was not bearing weight for six weeks.
Walker went to a gym with her mom before school and would walk pool laps for an hour, and then go to school. That was the only exercise she could do for a really long time.
The doctors cleared Walker for non-contact play on May 30, 2019, right before the Trevians' sixth-consecutive state finals trip. That meant she would have the opportunity to warm up with her teammates.
"That was really special to me, because that was the only time that I'd ever stepped on a field the entire season," Walker said.
"I think everybody that works hard should be afforded the opportunity to do whatever they can," Burnside said. "I told her when she was injured, that doesn't mean anything in terms of her place on the team.
“She's still one of our players. She is an important part of a team. She was at so much between her different therapy sessions. I wanted her to be out there, because she had earned that right. She had been just a solid teammate.
"She's the type of kid where you're in a game and walking off the field after a tough game and somebody didn't get to play much, she's got her arm around them. She's talking to them. She's encouraging them, which is coming from somebody who's lost an entire season.
“It's got to make the person who is able to be out there some feel better. But she had earned that right to be out there with her teammates, so it was a no-brainer to have her warm up with the girls."
Walker was able to get back into game action late last August playing for her club team but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, was forced to miss her second-consecutive high school soccer season.
"It was heartbreaking, honestly," she said. "I worked really hard for eight months to get back to where I am, and you can't ... Stuff, life happens, you can't control.
"I learned that the hard way, that sometimes things just don't go in your favor. So, it was tough knowing that I was missing out on two years. But I think that it's given me an insane amount of perspective of just how you have to cherish the moments that you do get, because it's not guaranteed. It's just made me appreciate New Trier girls soccer and the New Trier program that much more."
long wait at New Trier
By Michael Wojtychiw
Two years ago, Grace Walker was one of only two freshmen to make the New Trier varsity, joining classmate Mia Sedgwick as the lone first year's playing for the Trevians' top-level squad.
Walker saw action in all of the Trevians' games that season as they made a fifth-consecutive trip to the state title game, before falling in the title game to Barrington on PKs.
As the campaign went on, she saw more playing time and began letting the game come to her instead of trying to force things.
"It's such an amazing thing when kids come into high school," coach Jim Burnside said. "In their own world, they think, 'I'm going to step onto this field. I started every game since I was playing at the park district, and I'm going to do the same thing.'
"When she first got out there, she was good, but what I said to her was, 'The one thing you need to bring is energy. The other stuff that you've been able to get away with over the years, it's all great, but we got to build some different things, because you can't cut corners. There's a system to this. All I want you to bring for the next season is energy.'
"She bought into that. It was literally an 'I'm going to go out there. I might be on for five minutes. I might be on for 25 minutes, but I am going to run myself semi-intelligently into the ground. Then, make way for my teammates to come in.' She bought into that, which is a huge step. Not every freshman that makes the team buys into that."
Following that freshman season, Walker sprained her ankle in a club game in September, 2018. The injury became worse and eventually led to surgery to fix a micro-fracture in her right ankle.
During last season's tryouts, she found out she needed additional surgery, which she had done on March 7. Having that surgery meant she was a scratch for her sophomore season, one in which she would likely have gotten a bigger role on the squad.
"It was devastating," Walker said. "I was so excited for the season. I was excited because I was going to have more of a leadership role. I was excited because I love soccer, and I love this team. So, it was really hard for sure.
"But in order to cope with that, I made it a point to go to every practice and every game. I would reschedule physical therapy just so I could make it to stuff, because I wanted to be there. I wanted to be part of the team even though I couldn't contribute how I wanted to."
Rehab was tough and time consuming for Walker.
Four or five times a week, she'd head off to rehab. Two weeks after surgery, she was cleared to start walking in a pool, because she was not bearing weight for six weeks.
Walker went to a gym with her mom before school and would walk pool laps for an hour, and then go to school. That was the only exercise she could do for a really long time.
The doctors cleared Walker for non-contact play on May 30, 2019, right before the Trevians' sixth-consecutive state finals trip. That meant she would have the opportunity to warm up with her teammates.
"That was really special to me, because that was the only time that I'd ever stepped on a field the entire season," Walker said.
"I think everybody that works hard should be afforded the opportunity to do whatever they can," Burnside said. "I told her when she was injured, that doesn't mean anything in terms of her place on the team.
“She's still one of our players. She is an important part of a team. She was at so much between her different therapy sessions. I wanted her to be out there, because she had earned that right. She had been just a solid teammate.
"She's the type of kid where you're in a game and walking off the field after a tough game and somebody didn't get to play much, she's got her arm around them. She's talking to them. She's encouraging them, which is coming from somebody who's lost an entire season.
“It's got to make the person who is able to be out there some feel better. But she had earned that right to be out there with her teammates, so it was a no-brainer to have her warm up with the girls."
Walker was able to get back into game action late last August playing for her club team but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, was forced to miss her second-consecutive high school soccer season.
"It was heartbreaking, honestly," she said. "I worked really hard for eight months to get back to where I am, and you can't ... Stuff, life happens, you can't control.
"I learned that the hard way, that sometimes things just don't go in your favor. So, it was tough knowing that I was missing out on two years. But I think that it's given me an insane amount of perspective of just how you have to cherish the moments that you do get, because it's not guaranteed. It's just made me appreciate New Trier girls soccer and the New Trier program that much more."