from the "Pick and Roll"; author unknown
IT IS 4pm on a Saturday night at the Cornubia Park Sports Centre, Queensland. Mikaela Ruef stands in the middle of the court in her brand new Logan Thunder kit, ready to work. The 6’3 American comes into the huddle with her new teammates, focused on the task at hand. And then, emotions strike her like a burst of adrenaline, and she struggles to hold it in. For 28 year old Ruef, the journey has been a long one, filled with tears, struggles and hard work; one she refers to as the longest and darkest year of her life. For Mikaela Ruef, this shot is a second chance – a case of good things coming to those that wait.
The buzzer sounds, and the first ball goes up in front of the faithful home crowd as this group of women take on the Mackay Meteorettes in a clash that means more than just a possible win.
This game marks her return from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury that had taken the sport she loves away for the twelve months prior, an injury that is plaguing players across the sport. Ruef reflected on this as we sat in a quiet suburban café in Springwood, Queensland.
“To be honest, I was super nervous heading into that first game,” Ruef said. “My biggest worry was that I could go out there and land funny or come down from a layup and redo that injury. Even throughout that game I was really nervous to roll into the paint, because I didn’t want to run into somebody or get blindsided.”
For her, this is putting everything on the line to prove she still has so much to offer the sport she loves. Ruef has risen from the ashes, like a phoenix reborn on the burning path of recovery, but the memory of that injury still vividly haunts her. “I was landing and running down the court on a fast break when the point guard threw it to me in traffic, so I tried to stop and go up for a layup. As soon as my foot hit the floor, my knee just caved in as my body crumbled to the ground,” she said. “I felt it pop back into place. I thought at that point that it may have been nothing but I couldn’t walk so I knew what had happened.”
Ruef was playing in Toulouse, southwest of France back then, and opted to have surgery locally, before heading home for recovery in Dayton, Ohio, where the famous Wright brothers pioneered aviation. Just like the famous duo, Ruef was preparing herself to take flight once more.
Despite a career that has included experience in top tier leagues, including three seasons with three WNBL teams – Sydney Uni Flames, Adelaide Lightning and the Canberra Capitals – along with time in Launceston and France, Ruef knows she has much to prove with this return.
“The recovery process is never a straightforward path. It has major setbacks but when you get back, it is like ‘wow, I did all that work’ and you feel great about it. It made me a better person and really made me cherish basketball so much more being out for that long,” she added. “I just want to show everybody what I can do when I am fully healthy and my body is feeling this great.” For Ruef, this shot in the Queensland Basketball League has been an audition for a WNBL spot – a return to the highest tier women’s league in Australia. The determination in her eyes was clear, as the focus grows like a wildfire from this chance she has been given.
Ruef now leads the state league in average rebounds (19.44) as well as total season rebounds (331). It’s a skill she is proud of having stamped herself as a dominant leader in. She has been player of the week on 2 occasions.
Note: The Queensland Basketball League is the state’s premier semi-professional basketball competition, running from May to September each year. Since its beginnings in 1986 as the State Basketball League, the QBL has seen some of the country’s top basketball athletes move through its ranks in both the women’s and men’s competitions. Highly regarded in the country as one of the best state league competitions, each year the QBL attracts a number of elite players to the competition, including Australian representative athletes, NBL and WNBL players, and players from US colleges and other international competitions.
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