CIS top rookie hopes to return after Christmas
VANESSA PICKARD went through her entire minor and high school basketball career, and almost her first year in the CIS, without anything resembling a concussion.
That first varsity season as a member of the St. Francis Xavier X-Women was so outstanding the five-foot-11 guard was named the CIS rookie of the year.
But three concussions in a span of eight months, or two depending on how you count them, has the 19-year-old from Riverview, N.B., out of action. She hopes to be able to get back in the lineup after Christmas, but, as she has discovered, nothing is certain when it comes to head injuries.
“We’re hoping for January right now,” Pickard, a member of Canada’s cadet team in 2009 and 2010, said in an interview on Wednesday. “But it’s kind of a waiting game right now.”
Head coach Augy Jones said it’s only been in the last few days Pickard has been able to perform very limited basketball activities.
“I’m feeling very positive about it,” said Jones.
Pickard, 19, averaged a team-best 17.2 points per game last year, the best mark for a first-year player in the country.
She became just the second St. F.X. player to win the Kathy Shields Award. X-Women legend Theresa McCuish was the first in 1991-92.
The concussion saga began with a hit to the head in the AUS championship tournament last March in Antigonish.
She had concussion symptoms for four months, but was feeling better by mid-summer and resumed training.
Back on campus for St. F.X. summer basketball camp in August, she took a second concussion in a head-on collision during a nighttime scrimmage.
She took some more time off, returning earlier this fall to a no-contact practice with the X-Women. But fate wasn’t done with her.
“I got hit in the head with a pass and that put me back,” she said.
She’s not sure if she’s had three concussions or the second one wasn’t gone before she took the third knock on the head. Either way, it’s been a hard road.
“It’s a day-to-day process now, for sure. I’ve still been suffering from some headaches. I was nauseous for a little while. There was a lot of fatigue, difficulty concentrating, stuff like that. It kind of puts a damper on school a little bit.
“It affects your everyday life and that’s one of the hardest parts about it. I missed about two weeks of class, but then I kind of got back in the swing of things and I’ve been able to go. School has been going well and I’m happy about that, it’s just the frustration of not playing right now that’s getting me down a little bit.”
Jones said caution is paramount. He said that was made clear when a simple chest pass to Pickard’s forehead aggravated the concussion problems.
“So she was still fragile at that point. Right now, she’s not going to be involved with some of the other players in case a ball comes flying. After a while of her being headache-free and her being able to work out without feeling woozy, it will clear up where we won’t be worried at all.”
He said Pickard is a “big-time player” who can help at both ends of the floor. He said he hasn’t focused on her absence because the team, 2-2 in the regular season, has to press on with the players it has.
“But there were particular games where we would have loved to have that 17-20 points that Vanessa brings. Her defensive tenacity is also something we’re missing as well.”
Jones points to Kolbi Roper, Lia St. Pierre and Rebecca Sheehan as players who have picked up their game in Pickard’s absence.
“So the best-case scenario is Vanessa fits into a team where everyone around her is playing better than they did last year, so she may not have to carry as much of the weight, but yet she would still be effective. That’s my dream situation.”
Pickard understands the risks of playing sports after multiple concussions. Still, she’s not ready to give up on basketball and no one has told her she should.
“Basketball is a very big part of my life. Some days it’s really frustrating, but I’ve been really lucky to have my teammates and my coach and so many people in the athletic department behind me 100 per cent and it’s made a really big difference.”
(mmosher@herald.ca)