Taylor Philbrick, a 2020 Gering High School graduate, was at the peak of her soccer career her junior year of high school, and after accepting a scholarship to play soccer at UNK, she looked forward to finishing her prep career with a bang. That never happened, though, as her final high school soccer season was canceled because of COVID. She then became even more dejected after she graduated, when she learned she would need another surgery to repair her right ankle, causing her to sit out the next 8 months and miss her first season of college soccer. Although the last year and a half has been challenging for Philbrick, she’s pushed through the pain and frustration and is now contributing on the field again for UNK this season. She’s grateful for that – and also for how going through her adversity has given her a better perspective on things both as an athlete and as a person.
JEFF FIELDER Editor
GERING – Growing up playing soccer, Taylor Philbrick had her share of slips and falls, especially because of how aggressive she was from her striker position.
At times, she would twist an ankle, sometimes bad enough to where she had to sit out for a few days to recover.
Those ankle sprains, she believes, finally caught up with her after her eighth-grade year in Gering. She started feeling pain in her right ankle, especially when she would run for conditioning.
Nothing she did – like taping her ankle – would make the pain go away. So, she visited a doctor, who gave her some disappointing news.
“He said the ligaments in my ankle were stretched out from rolling it so many times,” she said. “He said surgery was the only way to fix it.”
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