Senior Bella Thompson is a student athlete who played varsity hockey during all four years of high school while battling an injury. 

Although many obstacles impeded her ability to participate, Thompson has always pushed through and dedicated herself to the ice. 

During her fifth grade season, she tore a ligament in her knee called the meniscus for the first time, this was the start of  a healing and reinjuring cycle she would go through for the rest of her hockey career. 

After recovering from her first injury, Thompson didn’t think twice, continuing on playing as normal and everything seemed to be going well until her seventh grade season when she retore her meniscus, yet again she healed after surgery and couldn’t wait to get back onto the ice.

 Thompson started  freshman year off strong  and was loving highschool hockey, this was until Thompson’s Sophomore season where she tore her meniscus in her other knee for the first time. 

This injury took a much larger toll on her not only as an athlete but her overall mental health. Thompson had always been able to take time to heal and still be progressing to the same skill level as her teammates but because high school sports are more face paced and progressional, it became harder for her to catch up. 

“It affected me in a way that made me realize how hard injuries are to go through. At first when I was young it wasn’t as difficult for me. But as I got older, it started to affect my mental health and physical ability to be a better hockey player. I just felt like I was stuck in the same place while everyone around me was getting better and working towards their goal,” Thompson said.

Growing up  as many athletes do, she had dreams of going to college for her sport and planning her future around it. Even after suffering three major injuries she still had high hopes, it wasn’t until her junior year where she once again tore her meniscus and missed half the season. This was when she began to accept playing hockey after highschool was likely not an option.

“My future plans revolved around the idea of playing college hockey for the longest time. As I got older I started to realize that maybe it wouldn’t be the best for me. I was debating whether I could or not, and once I had my 4th surgery I knew that once high school was over I would have to say goodbye to hockey,” Thompson said.

She got the chance to finish out her senior year in full and enjoy every second she could on the ice before she would be giving up the sport that made her who she is today. 

Not only is Thompson an athlete, but she is also academically successful, recently committing to University of North Dakota and receiving a scholarship to do so. 

While attending UND, she is planning on majoring in Physical Therapy, this became her plan after going through years of physical therapy and seeing how much positive impact it can have on athletes.