“They can alone be the reason I’m still here…” Athlete Xavier gets support from her team

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – A tattered ACL devastated multi-sport athlete Xavier Mary Kate Moeder. In the fall of her middle school year, injury halted her soccer and basketball seasons.

Moeder said: “I had planted the wrong plant and it heard the pop and I knew it wasn’t going to be good. “Sometimes it gets so difficult that you just want to give up and go fight.”

But Mary Kate is back on court, which she says she needs to do.

“Being out is very difficult,” said Moeder. “Sport is my outlet and it’s my outlet from facing challenges off the field and off the field at home with my dad.”

In 2017, Tony, the father of Mary Kate, was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.

“Ever since he was diagnosed when I was quite young, I don’t remember much, but one thing I do remember is how proud he was to be that sports dad, that dance dad, who Father will come in every game.”

Since Tony’s diagnosis, the Xavier community, including Mary Kate’s women’s basketball team, has rallied around the Moeders. Through all her ordeals, Mary Kate said the two constants are her family and her team.

“We were able to come together as a family through that,” she said. “Our great support system got us through.”

And her team responded, playing this special year for their senior captain

“MK always shows up with a great attitude,” says senior Maddie Steger. “Even through the challenges, she was able to show up with a smile on her face and work really hard. I think that helps the rest of us see that we need to show up every day and work hard. “

“They might just be the only reason I’m still here and through,” Mary Kate said of her team. “They picked me up on days that I couldn’t pick myself up.”

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