UPPER GWYNEDD – The word “love,” having been used and overused throughout the years, has lost much of its heaviness and deep meaning. Too often, our society uses it in place of the word “like,” making us all forget what the word “love” really stands for. People may believe that they love something or are in love, but it’s not until one loses that special someone or something that they realize how much they truly cared about it. Everyone experiences loss in life, and whether it’s a relative or a family pet, being without something one loves is a difficult process to overcome. Many athletes who have been taken out of games due to injuries can relate to this feeling of loss, and therefore can sympathize with Nicole and Frankie Yanni’s story. Nicole, a North Penn senior varsity softball player, and Frankie, a freshman varsity tennis player, have both, at one point in their lives, lost their true loves: the ability to play a sport.

“In the fall of my tenth grade year I went to dive for a ball, and I dove in front so I landed on my kneecap, and it popped out. I went through many doctors’ appointments and I found out that I was born with my kneecap slightly to the side. So when I dove for the ball, it moved my kneecap even more. I went to my doctor, and I had to go into surgery,” said Nicole Yanni.

Nicole’s sophomore and junior years at North Penn were spent in multiple doctors’ offices instead of practicing on the softball field. When Nicole dove for the ball, she had a lateral release of her kneecap. Later the Yanni family found out that she had been born with a degenerative disease that made her kneecap tilted. She went into surgery that would place it back to center, and Nicole was in recovery all of her sophomore year. She was cleared to play for the summer going into junior year, but her kneecap problem reoccurred during the fall of her junior year.

And then there’s her younger brother, Frankie…

“The school nurse during gym class checked my spine, and she called me into the nurse’s office later to check my spine again,” said Frankie Yanni. “She said I did have scoliosis and to get it better checked at the hospital. Later we found out that I had Chiari Malformation that caused my scoliosis. If the nurse didn’t find it, my spine would have gotten worse. When I went to the hospital, I had to get a brace.”

The Chiari Malformation caused fluids not to reach Frankie’s brain instead of sending the liquids down his spine. This made his spine very weak. To fix the issue, Frankie went into intensive brain surgery last spring that had him in the ICU for three days. Three weeks later, Frankie went to school for only half days. He continued his half days for about two weeks, and after five total weeks, he was cleared to play tennis again. True to form, Frankie spent the last night before his surgery out in the driveway hitting tennis balls against his garage door, and the day after he was cleared, he was back out as soon as possible, once again in the driveway playing tennis. Now, Frankie wears a brace to support his hips and spine for 18 hours every day and while he sleeps.

While sitting on the bench and lying in bed, Nicole and Frankie made the transition from being regular athletes to becoming determined and passionate players. This frustrating experience of being taken out of the game only made them want to play even more.

“My knee injury is something I have to deal with for the rest of my life, unless I want to stop playing softball –  but that’s not what I want to do right now. I wouldn’t want to stop playing, [so instead] I stretch the muscles out around my kneecap so the kneecap doesn’t move as much. If my muscles are tight then the kneecap will move, so what I do is stretch so I don’t miss playing during my senior year, and so I can walk during the school day. I’ve missed my sophomore and junior year of playing softball because of this injury.  It hasn’t been easy, but it’s what I have to do,” said Nicole.

Nicole takes an hour total out of her schedule to stretch, visit the trainer, and prepare for practices and games. Every day, she stretches and takes the time to prevent her kneecap from popping out. Although stretching does help, it does not completely fix the injury. During games, her kneecap will often pop out and she will have to put it back in.

“My teammates have learned that it happens, and we make jokes about it,” said Nicole. During her sophomore and junior years, Nicole’s knee injury never stopped her love for softball.

The Yanni family is a very active North Penn sports family. Nicole and Frankie have been playing North Penn sports for years, and their dad Mr. Frank Yanni has been an assistant North Penn Baseball coach for eleven years. Nicole and Frankie’s injuries not only affect the individuals, they also affect their family. Frank and Colleen Yanni take time out of their busy schedules to drive their children to doctors’ appointments and physical therapy as well as to care for them at home. Colleen has been a dietitian at the Children’s Hospital for twenty years, and Frank has been a pilot at United Airlines for nineteen years as well as coaching for North Penn.

“It’s tough to see your kids born with this stuff, but on the plus side, you love to see how it takes them in life to do whatever they need to do to get out there and play again,” said Frank.

Nicole and Frankie’s situations are different from many other injured athletes. These are not cases of sprains or broken ankles that will be fully recovered in six months. These siblings have been born with their unique injuries, and will have to deal with the pain and treatments for the rest of their lives. Another surgery could fix Nicole’s kneecap, but it would remove so much scar tissue that it would damage her knee later in life. Frankie could go into surgery to correct his spine, but he would not be able to play tennis for an entire year. Nicole and Frankie’s injuries showcase that sports are worth the pain.

“You can teach kids how to play sports, but you can’t teach determination like they have. Nicole knows what it takes to get back on the field, and she did it. And with Frankie with his Chiari Malformation and curvature of the spin, these kids both love their sports, and as a parent you love to see that determination to do whatever it takes to get back out there on the tennis court and softball field. As a parent and a coach you love to have these two types of players on the team just with that determination to get out there to play,” Frank reflected.

By being off the field and on the bench, Frankie and Nicole have learned the determination and passion necessary to get back out there and play their sports. Many athletes have been taken out of the game due to injuries as well, but the ones who have the most passion and love for the game will come back even stronger, as Nicole and Frankie did.

Frankie now plays on the varsity tennis team as the second best singles player and recently just won third place overall in a “Three School Tournament” that North Penn entered. Frankie beat many seniors and juniors to win third place. A week ago, Nicole got a concussion during her varsity softball game and is now recovering. She has been taking half days and is not able to practice. She hopes to be back on the field soon to help her teammates.