Mo Olenwine was faced with the loss of two sports seasons in her final year of high school because of a knee injury. While some would have felt victimized and mourned the loss of the experiences, Olenwine switched her focus and made the most out of an unpleasant situation.

After missing the soccer season in the fall, she was at first scheduled to return to playing basketball shortly after the New Year only to have the plans change and for a while, it appeared that she would miss the entire season.

While she was forced to the sidelines because of the injury, Olenwine refused to withdraw from the teams and the sports that she loves. Parkland girls basketball head coach Ed Ohlson has talked all season about Olenwine’s commitment to show up at every practice and serve not as an observer but as another coach, helping young players to understand the rigors of the game and face situations they would encounter as varsity players.

During games Olenwine was often seen talking to other players about what she was seeing from her seat on the bench that the injury relegated her to spending so much time on.

“I guess that role just came along for me,” said Olenwine about helping younger players adapt. “I wasn’t going to stay away and while it was frustrating because soccer and basketball have been a big part of my life, I had to find a different value in it and figure out how I could make it part of my life without being on the court to play.”

As the calendar approached February, Olenwine finally received partial clearance from doctors to return to the court. She can play in one game per week, and they want her to not push to play too many minutes in those games.

Olenwine returned to the court Feb. 1 against Northampton. She was not in the starting lineup and played limited minutes, but she was back on the court and that was what mattered most to the Parkland senior and her teammates.

“I will take anything that I can get at this point,” said Olenwine with a broad, familiar smile. “The team has always been by my side, and they showed even more tonight, and I felt that support from early in the season all the way through.”

Assistant coach Amanda Wolf noted after the win over Northampton that the team rallied around Olenwine’s return in that game to pick up a win that was vital to the team’s run for the postseason.

After sitting out against Emmaus, Olenwine returned for senior night and was in the starting lineup against Whitehall. She also scored her first points of the season in the game, crossing another milestone.

Olenwine obediently sat out the season finale against Pocono Mountain East, leaving her in line to play in Friday night’s playoff opener. Going by the East Penn Conference playoff schedule, should Parkland continue to advance, her next opportunity would come in the conference finals one week later.

After her high school graduation, Olenwine is going to attend college at either West Chester or the University of Pittsburgh. Plans to play either college soccer or basketball were ruined by the injury, but she does look forward to playing club soccer and basketball to keep herself busy as she pursues a degree in exercise science. If her time this season is any indication, she could also have a future career in coaching should she choose to pursue that avenue.

“All of this kind of ruined my recruiting for sports, but that’s okay,” said Olenwine. “I am still going to be able to play some sports and get a good education and that’s what really matters. It also helps that I am able to get some playing time here at the end of the season and be a part of this team all season.”