She Shoots, She Scores!

Tori Oberst, 15, is a teenager who learned to overcome adversity at a young age.  When Tori was 14, she tore her ACL playing basketball for the Steal City traveling team for young girls.

Tori playing for Steal City

Tori has played basketball all her life.  She went to the Catholic grade school, Assumption, 10 minutes outside of Pittsburgh, in Bellevue Borough, where basketball was the school's main sport.  Tori has played basketball since she was little, and her family has always been very involved with the sport.  Her dad coached her all throughout elementary school at Assumption, and tried to never miss a game.

When Tori got injured playing the game she loved, her life changed.  Tori was out of the game for about a year and had to adapt to her new way of life on crutches and being stuck at home.  Tori even had to spend her summer vacation at Wildwood, New Jersey hobbling down the beach on crutches.

"Being at the beach on crutches, was not a fun experience," she said.  "It was terrible, but I wasn't going to let my injury get me down."

Tori had to quickly learn to adapt to her new life on crutches and attend physical therapy sessions in order to gain strength back in her leg so that she could be able to walk again.

"I was on crutches for six weeks, and then I had about six to seven months of physical therapy," Tori said.  "The injury was very severe, and at first I wasn't where they [doctors] wanted me to be, but then it started to get better."

Tori along with her Steal City team after a championship game

She worked hard to gain the strength back in her leg because she was eager to get back into the game.  At school since she wasn't physically able to participate in gym class, she rode a stationary bike to help her leg gain strength.  She was trying everything that she could to try to help herself recover from her injury faster.

When Tori was allowed to go back to school after the surgery, she had to learn how to get around school on crutches and not be a part of everything that her friends were doing.  This was a difficult time for Tori and she had to overcome being left out of something she used to be a part of.  Instead of playing basketball, Tori was watching from the sidelines.  After numerous months of physical therapy, countless trips to the doctor, and learning how to walk again, Tori was finally cleared to get back to playing the sport she loves.

Now Tori attends Northgate High School  and is a sophomore. She starts for the varsity team, even though she is considered to be on the junior varsity team.

"This injury has taught me patience and a lot about not taking things for granted," she said.

It took a while for Tori to get back into the swing of things, but she persevered and worked hard to get back to where she was before her injury.

Now that Tori has made a full recovery, she is back into all things sports.  She also plays volleyball and runs track for Northgate High School.

"Sports are my life," she said.  "Without them, I don't know where I'd be."

Tori playing Northgate High School on December 4, 2015