Victoria Griste
Growing up, I played a lot of sports. I had an older brother who I have always looked up to, and if I was going to hang out with him, I had to be able to play the sports he was playing with his friends. So, from a young age, I would be in my backyard playing baseball, soccer, football, basketball- you name it, we played it. I loved all of them, but I always found myself kicking a soccer ball around more than anything else. I started out playing in a “Pee-Wee Soccer” league when I was 6 years old and continued playing through high school and on travel teams.
In November of 2014, I was a freshman in high school, and I was away in Lancaster, PA. for a soccer tournament. I was playing center defense when a player on the other team ran into my leg from the side. I fell to the ground and felt a pain in my knee and couldn’t fully straighten it. I went to a doctor who said I had a slight fracture in my tibia, and I wouldn’t be able to play soccer for 3 months. After those 3 months wearing a brace and going to physical therapy, I was eager to get back to playing. Unfortunately, as time went on and I continued playing, I still had pain in my knee, and it would swell up after any activity. One night in 2016, I was playing an indoor soccer game and I walked off of the field crying because my knee hurt so bad during the game. When I sat on the bench, my soccer coach proceeded to tell me it was all in my head and girls can’t handle pain well. Obviously, that didn’t help, but I went to another doctor because I knew something was wrong. Sure enough, they told me I had a torn ACL, and I needed the reconstructive surgery. After almost two years of playing through pain and missing a lot of playing time because of it, I finally had an answer.
After the surgery, I began physical therapy and eventually strength training. I decided to stop playing soccer because I didn’t want to re-tear my ACL, but also because I found a new love for strength training. Getting to watch my leg transform from having zero muscle or range of motion, to getting that range of motion back and gaining strength was amazing to me. Watching and feeling myself becoming stronger in the gym after being told “girls can’t handle pain well,” and always trying to keep up with my brother made me realize that it didn’t matter that I was a girl… I am just as strong and capable as anyone.
6 years later and weightlifting continues to be a strong passion of mine. I went to West Chester University and majored in Exercise Science, basically studying my passion, and loved every minute of it. One night at Exercise Science Club in 2019, Paul was one of the guest speakers who came in to talk to the group. I could see that he had that same passion for training and working with individuals to become better, and after hearing him talk I felt excited to go into this field! After the meeting, I was able to speak with him to ask if I could learn from him. Even then, he had that same passion and excitement to get to teach someone and help me to become better. This past fall I was able to work as an intern at Marino’s Athletic Performance, and now he’s brought me on as a performance coach. I hope to help all athletes to realize that if they continue to work, they will become a stronger, more powerful athlete. And for the female athletes, I want to be the coach to tell them they are strong regardless of what others may tell them.
Credentials:
B.S. Kinesiology – West Chester University