What comes to mind with the phrase “multi-sport athlete”? Ella Williams certainly qualifies as a multi-sport athlete; however, her sports may not be what one would expect. It’s not soccer and track or basketball and lacrosse. Williams plays ice hockey for Pennridge High School and is a competitive Irish dancer at Aisling Mor Academy Of Irish Dance. She has been dancing for eight years and playing ice hockey for three years. Both of these sports have helped her grow into the person she is today, given her countless memories, and taught her crucial lessons along the way.
As a part of the defense for the girls’ PHS ice hockey team, it was important for Williams to have a positive attitude. Luckily for her, that’s one of the things she feels the team has helped her the most with. She explained that when she’s having a bad day, the energy of everyone on the team brings her mood up. Williams also commented that ice hockey has taught her to be okay with failing, as she started playing later than many of her teammates. This has also, in her opinion, made her stronger as a person and taught her how to have a growth mindset. Williams’ favorite memory with the team- their first game of this season- reflects her growth mindset. She noticed that that game was the best she’d personally ever played and truly demonstrated the improvement of the team as a whole over the last year. She added, “That game kind of showed that.” Williams began ice hockey at a friend’s request. Now? She says, “I fell in love with it.”
With her long-term commitment to Irish dance, one might expect that it was a life-long dream of hers. On the contrary, it was an extracurricular of convenience. When Williams was in elementary school, she was a cheerleader. Her father owned a gym, and an Irish dance studio moved in next door. Initially, she began dancing to stay in shape for cheer and try something new, but ultimately, her love of dance took over and kicked cheerleading out of the picture entirely. 8 years later, Williams considers dance “an escape from life” and an amazing stress reliever. She’s able to consider dance to be such a great source of relaxation because of her love for practice and appreciation for the fun she’s able to find in what others may find to be grueling. Williams claims, “I don’t know what I’d do without it.”
Unfortunately for Williams, she had to learn what she would do without dance and ice hockey. Towards the end of her freshman year, she sustained a meniscus tear that occurred after getting up and twisting her knee. Her initial thought was simply, “Something’s not right.” Seeing a doctor and getting an MRI revealed that she had ultimately torn her meniscus. This injury sent her down 3 different treatment paths, including surgery, all ultimately failing. “Surgery was disappointing,” Williams explained because, after nine months of doing nothing for the sake of her recovery, she received 1 week where her leg felt good and normal. She went back to the doctor and discovered her meniscus was either torn again or was never fully repaired.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back to dance the way it was again,” Williams explained. For a while after her surgery, all Williams wanted to do was give up on fixing her knee. She was ready and willing to quit dance and ice hockey. Especially since she considered dance her escape, she had to branch out and find new things to do, like reading and crocheting. In addition, Williams remarked on how her injury has helped her grow as a person. In her opinion, this injury has helped her become mentally stronger. It helped her to overcome her doubt and fear of the unknown.
Beyond her personal growth, Williams demonstrated the kind of person she is when she explained that her injury allowed her to look past her accomplishments and be happy for others. “It’s defeating to watch the people I’ve grown up with move on,” she said. She realized she couldn’t help that they were moving on with Irish dance while she was stagnant. “But they’re doing good, and I should be happy about that.” This remark serves as a testament to Williams as a person, not just an athlete. Her teammate and friend of 3 years from Pennridge Girls’ Ice Hockey, Julia Kuhns, says, “She’s genuinely one of the best friends anyone could ask for. She always supports me no matter what!” Williams has proven herself to be a dedicated and genuine teammate and friend despite her setbacks.
Regardless of her injury, her passion for her sports has never been more apparent. As a multi-sport athlete, she finds that ice hockey has helped her to become a better dancer because of the training. The athleticism and physical fitness required for ice hockey enabled her to improve her strength as a dancer. Additionally, both ice hockey and Irish dance have positively impacted her personal life. When it comes to dance, Williams commented that it has given her relationships she’s happy and grateful to have. Additionally, when she has a hard day, she can go to dance and dance it out. Starting ice hockey later also enormously influenced Williams’ life, making her okay with failing and teaching her how to have a growth mindset. Being a multi-sport athlete has given her a distinctive perspective on life and her sports while also teaching her pivotal lessons about both life and athletics as a result of her experiences. Overall, as both an Irish dancer and ice hockey player who has undergone such an adverse experience with her injury, Williams can bring a fresh perspective to the discussion of multi-sport athletes.
