LA’s Copeland Cheering On Her Soccer Team

A torn ACL may have ended her senior soccer season prematurely, but Livingston Academy’s Ella Copeland said she is confident while she is sidelined, her teammates can make some noise in the post-season.

Copeland said she was playing well and felt confident this season, before just seven games into the season she tore her ACL. In her recovery, Copeland has relied on a teammate that dealt with a similar situation two years ago, her sister Lily.

“Pretty much about the same thing happened to her in her senior year,” Copeland said. “That kind of helped, just having someone who kind of knows, obviously about the injury and then just kind of how you’re feeling.”

The injury happened in an August 29th game with Franklin County, Copeland said she was running down the pitch when she felt a pop. Directly after the injury, Copeland said she was hoping it wasn’t her ACL.

“Right after, Chad came over and I was just like ‘tell me if it’s my ACL or not’,” Copeland said. “Because I’ve seen Selah go through it and I’ve seen my sister, so I just didn’t want that to happen.”

Although the on field assessment came back clean, it was not until further tests were conducted that Copeland learned her senior season was over.

She said it took some time to process that she won’t be playing for Livingston again. But she credits her teammates and coaches helping her along the mental recovery.

“The teammates have really just been great,” Copeland said. “They check in on me a lot and still make me fell very included with everything. And even though I can’t play anymore, they’re still great at practices and stuff, they’ve just been really good. And they’re really improving their game too as the season goes on.”

Copeland said she is very confident the Wildcats will win their district this year and has her eyes on the next prize.

“I think once we get out of districts we’ll definitely be challenged,” Copeland said. “I think that if they play like they know how to play and just kind of play the best that they can then I think they have a very good shot at Regions and maybe further.”