Rooting from home: Team Canada athlete prioritizes mental health over Paralympics
Posted August 29, 2021 3:41 pm.
Last Updated August 30, 2021 9:28 am.
EDMONTON (CityNews) ─ Team Canada’s sitting volleyball team picked up its first win of the Paralympics ─ a 3-1 victory over Italy on Sunday.
One of the team’s players, Sarah Melenka, is rooting for her teammates from her home in Edmonton after prioritizing her mental health.
“Everyone always thinks sports are always physical, and you physically need to be at your strongest and that’s all you need to be, but there is the underlying thing that mental health and sports is huge too,” said Melenka.
“It’s really exciting to watch them play because they’re killing it. They crushed Italy, and they go up against Japan in a couple of days so it’s exciting knowing I was a part of their team to help them get there.”
Melenka has been playing volleyball since middle school. It wasn’t until she was 15 when she was diagnosed with compartment syndrome, which limits her physical capabilities.
“It’s a syndrome in the legs where the fascia doesn’t expand, when your muscles are working which allows for no blood flow, no oxygen down to my lower legs,” she said. “So when I would work out, when I played volleyball, I would be in severe pain.”
After spending time in the hospital undergoing surgeries, and nearly requiring an amputation on her leg, she was ready to get back on the court.
“When I was in the hospital, they told me I would never play again,” she recalled. “I was in so much pain, my calf was dead, but I was pretty determined I would.”
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And a few years later she qualified for the sitting volleyball team and would soon be on her way to the Paralympics. Or so she thought.
“I started to slip as an athlete,” she said. “Usually my athleticism was No. 1. I always identified myself as an athlete, but this year I wasn’t have fun playing, I wasn’t having fun being an athlete.”
Added Jackie Skender, director of communications for Volleyball Canada: “For high-performance athletes, whether it’s in the Olympics or the Paralympics, it’s really important, it’s a part of their overall health. If you can’t perform at your highest level, you won’t have your highest ranks, or game.”
Canada’s sitting volleyball team has a 1-1 record at the Paralympics.
