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Rugby injury delays my bobsleigh start

January 13, 2009 11:09 AM | Posted by   Heather Moyse  

Well hello, let me introduce myself. My name is Heather Moyse and I am a dual-National sport athlete - a member of the National Senior Women’s Rugby Team, ranked 4th in the world after the World Cup in 2006, and a brakeman for the National Women’s World Cup Bobsleigh Team, 4th at the 2006 Olympic Games.

I am thrilled to be able to share my journey with you as our bobsleigh team competes on the World Cup circuit this year, and hope to keep you up to speed with competition results and give you a behind-the-scenes look at the sport.

Now, where do I begin? Well, why not start with an injury?

Last summer was a pretty frustrating summer for me, and for my teammates, I'm sure. As soon as the bobsleigh season ended at the end of last February, I took two weeks off and then started training to get ready for rugby. I was selected for the National Rugby Sevens Team - only 7 players on the field and a much faster game - and played in the Hong Kong Sevens tournament in March. I was also selected to go to Amsterdam with the team in May, all in preparation for the first Women’s Sevens World Cup ever to be held in Dubai in March, 2009.

Shoulder 'pushed through' from the back

Unfortunately, towards the end of our last game on the first day of the tournament, I tackled an opponent out of bounds but was almost simultaneously landed on by my own teammate. As I landed, my shoulder got 'pushed through' from the back and I instantly knew that I couldn't finish the last few minutes of the game.

I thought I injured my rotator cuff (as did two team therapists), and so strapped it up for the second day and played in a couple of games, although quite obviously hesitant. It wasn't until I got back to Canada a couple of weeks later that I found out I had actually fractured my shoulder - an avulsion-type fracture of the head of the humerus, and a partial tear of the supraspinatus tendon. Ouch.

It took over three months for the fracture to heal, and then I had to deal with 'frozen shoulder' (or adhesive capsulitis). I've had two therapeutic arthrograms done at the hospital - a procedure where the doctor inflates the shoulder with saline and then blasts out the scar tissue. I also had a cortisone injection and two plasma injections. I've had amazing therapists and doctors working with me, and have made a ton of progress.

As frustrating as this experience has been, my teammates and coaches have been very supportive. I did, however, miss all sliding during the pre-season, which meant that I started pushing in Europe at the start of the World Cup season. It was hard to find the balance between returning too early and potentially taking a step backwards, and not getting enough practice before the season started. I was scheduled to race in the second race, but I pushed it back to the next race in Igls, Austria the following week.

'I was extremely nervous'

Helen Upperton and I hadn’t pushed together since last February so I was extremely nervous. We ended up pushing the 2nd and 3rd fastest pushes of the race and winning GOLD! A great way to get back on ‘track’ again, but I am still looking at this recovery as yet another challenge. My shoulder is still not 100 per cent, but I am determined to be pushing stronger and faster than ever before, because I know that I have not yet reached my full potential as an athlete.

I know it will continue to be frustrating for awhile as I may not be as competitive as I know I can be, but I know things will work out how they’re supposed to.

Before I go, let me quickly explain how the bobsleigh season works. Men compete in both 2-man and 4-man bobsleigh events, whereas the women only compete in the 2-man event. On tour for our Canadian team, there are three female pilots and five female brakemen and, although it may seem confusing, the combinations are getting switched and shuffled around more and more this season.

Narrowing the field

The coaches have a difficult job of narrowing the field of brakemen for the Olympics next year (only 13 months away) and are testing different combinations of pilots and brakemen. As a brakeman it’s not an easy position to be in. Often we find out week-to-week who’s racing and, as a competitor, it’s always hard to hear that you’re sitting out to “get a break”. But that’s how things go in this sport - very different from any sport with which I’ve ever been involved.

To get you up to speed on this season…. I didn’t do the first two races because of my shoulder; I raced with Helen Upperton in Igls and won gold; I was supposed to race in Cesana, Italy with Lisa Szabon but the race was cancelled because in three days they got seven feet of snow; I had a great Christmas holiday in Prince Edward Island with my family; I was supposed to race with Helen in Konigssee, Germany but because of the cancelled race before Christmas the scheduled got messed up; and now in St. Moritz, Switzerland we are three days away from the race (we actually have a race Thursday and a make-up race on Friday) and we still don’t know who’s racing yet! I guess it keeps us on our toes?! I’ll keep you posted!

Anyway, I hope 2009 is already bringing you health and happiness. Stay tuned...this next year is going to be amazing - full of training, medals, snowball fights, tears, and funny stories along the way, and I hope you enjoy the ride as much as I’m hoping to.

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