Injured Picha remains an asset for Benet
By Matt Le Cren
Every athlete dreams of going out a champion, of walking off the field for the final time with hands raised high after glorious victory.
Cami Picha was no different. The Benet forward realized that dream when the Redwings won their first state championship last June with a dramatic 2-1 overtime victory over Wauconda in the Class AA final at North Central College.
Only that game was not supposed to be Picha’s last. She was still looking forward to her senior season and perhaps a college career.
It was not to be. Picha decided to end a successful yet injury-plagued career during the offseason. She is scheduled to undergo surgery in April for compartment syndrome in the calves of both legs, a painful condition in which the muscles grow too big for the infrastructure that surrounds them, leading to inflammation and pain.
“It’s difficult right now because this is her senior season,” Benet coach Gerard Oconer said. “She’s had so much success over the last year, not only with the girls team but being the manager of the boys team and being able to share that (state championship) moment.
“That she’s not able to play is really disappointing for her.”
Yet as she and her teammates bide their time at home while the start of the season is delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, Picha retains a positive attitude.
“It is unfortunate, but I decided that there’s no point in getting upset about it,” she said. “There’s nothing I can do to change it.
“We don’t know why it happened. It probably was a buildup of all those years of not taking those breaks when I needed them and pushing through pain when I was feeling sore.”
Though she won’t be playing, Picha will still suit up with the Redwings and serve as a de facto assistant coach.
“I hope the team can get back on the field,” Picha said. “I made a promise that I would do everything that I can do physically to help those girls out because they mean so much to me.”
Indeed, Picha’s fondest soccer memories will be of the glorious 2019 season, when she overcame injuries to score eight goals and post 11 assists, including Benet’s lone goal in the run of play in a shootout win over St. Ignatius in the sectional final.
In retrospect, the dramatic win over Wauconda, in which the Redwings overcame a 1-0 deficit with less than two minutes remaining to win in overtime, was a great way to take an unknowingly final bow from competition.
“I’m just so thankful that I got the chance to be on that team,” Picha said. “I played with these girls for the past 2-3 years. It was incredible winning a state title with them.
“It was a very surreal experience. I know that without all of us contributing what we are talented in, we never would have been able to win that state title.
“We won because of the efforts of every single member of that team. It wasn’t dependent just on one of us. It was the combined effort and the chemistry that we had that resulted in that state title, which was huge for us individually, as a team and for the whole school.”
That Picha would be a part of it was not a foregone conclusion. It ended up being a just reward for a team-oriented, hard-working player who had played in pain throughout her prep career.
Her freshman season was torpedoed by a cracked kneecap, which required a long recovery process. As a sophomore, Picha battled flareups of asthma as well as a sprained ankle.
The pain continued her junior season, during which she played through dislocated ribs.
“I’m not one to take a lot of breaks when I should,” Picha said. “I love soccer so much, and I love my teammates so I didn’t want to stop playing.”
She didn’t, making an impact on the right wing and forming a deadly attack with Jaimee Cibulka and Abby Casmere.
Picha scored two game-winning goals, including the header that beat Notre Dame (Peoria) on the road early in April, and assisted on four other game-winners.
“Her first couple years she was always the spark off our bench,” Oconer said. “Any time she came in the game, it was instant energy and something happened.
“Finally, last year she really got her opportunity. She stayed healthy for the most part, and she was able to produce for us. Having her on one side, having Jaimee on the other and Abby in the middle, it was like pick your poison.”
Facing so many scoring threats proved to be a bitter pill for opponents to swallow. The Redwings finished 24-3-1, setting a program record for wins.
“We had incredible chemistry,” Picha said. “We all mixed well and played together.
“We were so hungry for that title. A lot of hard work and dedication paid off.”
Though she was never the center of attention, always taking a back seat to the likes of Casmere, Cibulka and Mia Tommasone, the powerful and determined Picha was a driving force in Benet’s high-octane attack.
“She has always operated a little bit in the shadows, and I think a lot of times she did get overshadowed by Jaimee,” Oconer said. “Jaimee was obviously an incredible player for us.
“But I don’t know if Jaimee is quite the same player or Abby is quite the same player if not for Cami.”
So how did Picha succeed despite her physical limitations? A nonstop motor is one reason, plus an intelligence that few can match. She produced despite playing fewer minutes than many starters.
“With our rotation she would be the first one to come out after about 10-12 minutes so she could catch her breath, because when she’s in the game it’s instant energy,” Oconer said. “She’s so dynamic with her speed.
“The other thing that stands out about Cami is she’s probably one of the smartest players that we have. She understands the game, and she’s always one step ahead. She’s always making intelligent runs and getting herself in good spots.”
Before her latest injury, Picha thought she was in a good spot. She had been part of a second state championship last fall when she served as a manager of the boys team, which included her brother Nico, a freshman forward.
And she had already decided to forego a collegiate career.
“I get injured too much, and it would be too much of a physical toll,” Picha said. “I decided it was better to have one last year, my senior year, of competitive soccer, and call it quits on the competitive side.
“But, sadly, that also changed.”
Picha plans to attend Indiana, which has a highly regarded business school. She wants to major in international business and eventually see the world.
“I’ve always loved traveling and exploring new cultures,” she said.
That requires a willingness to try new things and take on new roles, something Picha already was beginning to do before preseason training was halted on March 13.
“I think she was starting to embrace being the team mom, especially because we have six freshmen on our team,” Oconer said. “As we went along, she was starting to become comfortable in almost being a pseudo assistant coach for us, really helping the younger players understand our system and how we want to do things.
“She knows the game, and I think she’d make a really good coach one day if she ever decides to do that.”
By Matt Le Cren
Every athlete dreams of going out a champion, of walking off the field for the final time with hands raised high after glorious victory.
Cami Picha was no different. The Benet forward realized that dream when the Redwings won their first state championship last June with a dramatic 2-1 overtime victory over Wauconda in the Class AA final at North Central College.
Only that game was not supposed to be Picha’s last. She was still looking forward to her senior season and perhaps a college career.
It was not to be. Picha decided to end a successful yet injury-plagued career during the offseason. She is scheduled to undergo surgery in April for compartment syndrome in the calves of both legs, a painful condition in which the muscles grow too big for the infrastructure that surrounds them, leading to inflammation and pain.
“It’s difficult right now because this is her senior season,” Benet coach Gerard Oconer said. “She’s had so much success over the last year, not only with the girls team but being the manager of the boys team and being able to share that (state championship) moment.
“That she’s not able to play is really disappointing for her.”
Yet as she and her teammates bide their time at home while the start of the season is delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, Picha retains a positive attitude.
“It is unfortunate, but I decided that there’s no point in getting upset about it,” she said. “There’s nothing I can do to change it.
“We don’t know why it happened. It probably was a buildup of all those years of not taking those breaks when I needed them and pushing through pain when I was feeling sore.”
Though she won’t be playing, Picha will still suit up with the Redwings and serve as a de facto assistant coach.
“I hope the team can get back on the field,” Picha said. “I made a promise that I would do everything that I can do physically to help those girls out because they mean so much to me.”
Indeed, Picha’s fondest soccer memories will be of the glorious 2019 season, when she overcame injuries to score eight goals and post 11 assists, including Benet’s lone goal in the run of play in a shootout win over St. Ignatius in the sectional final.
In retrospect, the dramatic win over Wauconda, in which the Redwings overcame a 1-0 deficit with less than two minutes remaining to win in overtime, was a great way to take an unknowingly final bow from competition.
“I’m just so thankful that I got the chance to be on that team,” Picha said. “I played with these girls for the past 2-3 years. It was incredible winning a state title with them.
“It was a very surreal experience. I know that without all of us contributing what we are talented in, we never would have been able to win that state title.
“We won because of the efforts of every single member of that team. It wasn’t dependent just on one of us. It was the combined effort and the chemistry that we had that resulted in that state title, which was huge for us individually, as a team and for the whole school.”
That Picha would be a part of it was not a foregone conclusion. It ended up being a just reward for a team-oriented, hard-working player who had played in pain throughout her prep career.
Her freshman season was torpedoed by a cracked kneecap, which required a long recovery process. As a sophomore, Picha battled flareups of asthma as well as a sprained ankle.
The pain continued her junior season, during which she played through dislocated ribs.
“I’m not one to take a lot of breaks when I should,” Picha said. “I love soccer so much, and I love my teammates so I didn’t want to stop playing.”
She didn’t, making an impact on the right wing and forming a deadly attack with Jaimee Cibulka and Abby Casmere.
Picha scored two game-winning goals, including the header that beat Notre Dame (Peoria) on the road early in April, and assisted on four other game-winners.
“Her first couple years she was always the spark off our bench,” Oconer said. “Any time she came in the game, it was instant energy and something happened.
“Finally, last year she really got her opportunity. She stayed healthy for the most part, and she was able to produce for us. Having her on one side, having Jaimee on the other and Abby in the middle, it was like pick your poison.”
Facing so many scoring threats proved to be a bitter pill for opponents to swallow. The Redwings finished 24-3-1, setting a program record for wins.
“We had incredible chemistry,” Picha said. “We all mixed well and played together.
“We were so hungry for that title. A lot of hard work and dedication paid off.”
Though she was never the center of attention, always taking a back seat to the likes of Casmere, Cibulka and Mia Tommasone, the powerful and determined Picha was a driving force in Benet’s high-octane attack.
“She has always operated a little bit in the shadows, and I think a lot of times she did get overshadowed by Jaimee,” Oconer said. “Jaimee was obviously an incredible player for us.
“But I don’t know if Jaimee is quite the same player or Abby is quite the same player if not for Cami.”
So how did Picha succeed despite her physical limitations? A nonstop motor is one reason, plus an intelligence that few can match. She produced despite playing fewer minutes than many starters.
“With our rotation she would be the first one to come out after about 10-12 minutes so she could catch her breath, because when she’s in the game it’s instant energy,” Oconer said. “She’s so dynamic with her speed.
“The other thing that stands out about Cami is she’s probably one of the smartest players that we have. She understands the game, and she’s always one step ahead. She’s always making intelligent runs and getting herself in good spots.”
Before her latest injury, Picha thought she was in a good spot. She had been part of a second state championship last fall when she served as a manager of the boys team, which included her brother Nico, a freshman forward.
And she had already decided to forego a collegiate career.
“I get injured too much, and it would be too much of a physical toll,” Picha said. “I decided it was better to have one last year, my senior year, of competitive soccer, and call it quits on the competitive side.
“But, sadly, that also changed.”
Picha plans to attend Indiana, which has a highly regarded business school. She wants to major in international business and eventually see the world.
“I’ve always loved traveling and exploring new cultures,” she said.
That requires a willingness to try new things and take on new roles, something Picha already was beginning to do before preseason training was halted on March 13.
“I think she was starting to embrace being the team mom, especially because we have six freshmen on our team,” Oconer said. “As we went along, she was starting to become comfortable in almost being a pseudo assistant coach for us, really helping the younger players understand our system and how we want to do things.
“She knows the game, and I think she’d make a really good coach one day if she ever decides to do that.”