When a young athlete steps onto the field, they carry more than just a ball or a jersey. They carry a passion for their sport grounded in dedication, discipline, and dreams. Sydnee Cody’s passion for soccer has thrived since she first stepped out on the turf at the age of 4. And the 2025 season brought with it the promise of more thrills, and many more goals, for the now 17-year-old Burleson Centennial High School junior.

But as the soccer season was just getting underway, an unexpected challenge tested Sydnee’s resilience in ways she never imagined. During a routine one‑on‑one play, as she moved to challenge another player, her knee suddenly gave out.

Sydnee’s mother, Kristin Wiley, remembers the moment vividly: “Her knee popped out and she went down. I could hear her scream from across the field; it was horrible.”

Swelling set in quickly, and Sydnee was unable to put any weight on her leg. The school’s athletic trainer was on hand to ice the injury and help stabilize her knee, but the young athlete and her family knew more care would likely be needed.

A Fast Track to Rehab

That same night, Sydnee was in so much pain that her family had to take her to the emergency room. She was placed in a soft brace and referred for orthopedic care while at the hospital. Thanks to a connection with an area orthopedic surgeon, she was evaluated quickly. The diagnosis confirmed what Sydnee and her family had feared: a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). An aggressive plan was then put into place to get her back on her feet for the 2026 soccer season.

After surgery, her recovery journey led her to Texas Health Burleson Orthopedic and Sports Rehabilitation. Texas Health Burleson offers comprehensive outpatient physical therapy and sports rehabilitation services to help athletes and weekend warriors alike get back to peak physical form. There, Sydnee began the hard work of rebuilding strength, mobility, and confidence in her knee.

She was guided through rehab by Hal Welch, PT, DPT, physical therapy manager at the rehab center, who could offer Sydnee a very personalized approach to healing and recovery. “I experienced a torn ACL while playing college soccer and went through the same surgery as Sydnee,” Welch explains. “It gave me a bit more insight into what she was going through.”

Welch took Sydnee from early post-operative exercises to more advanced strengthening and stability work, all the while watching the young athlete fully commit to doing everything he recommended.

“The first thing was to let the impact of her surgery calm down,” he says. “We worked hard on strength and range of motion and then gradually increased from low levels of function to more and more movement, like hopping and jumping and high-level sports activity. We used an isokinetic machine to test her strength and video cameras late in her rehab to look at take-off and landing. This served as a guidepost for her final clearance.”

Preparing for a Comeback

While Sydnee initially met with Welch two times a week at Texas Health Burleson, she also committed to doing much of her rehab on her own at home. She was diligent about lifting weights and doing strength training that followed a home exercise plan provided by Welch.

As her varsity team advanced to the playoffs, Sydnee watched from the sidelines, cheering them on while focusing on her recovery. It may not have been the season she expected, but it became an opportunity for growth as both an athlete and a young adult.

By December, Sydnee had completed her rehabilitation at Texas Health Burleson. Her mom reports that she is now stronger than she’s ever been and she enjoys working out and going to the gym. “She is a very tough girl; she works harder than most adults that I know as far as staying in shape.”

The family contributes much of Sydnee’s successful recovery to the good experience they had at Texas Health Burleson. “Because of the therapist’s similar ACL injury, he offered advice and was key in getting her back to functioning. Sydnee is so determined and self-guided that she did a lot on her own to get back to pre-injury form. But if we felt like she wasn’t completing what she needed to at home, we had the option to pursue more care at Texas Health Burleson. If we had any questions or something didn’t feel right, we could contact Hal and he responded quickly. He even checked in on Sydnee every couple of weeks for some time,” Kristin adds.

To learn more about physical therapy and rehabilitation through Texas Health, visit Rehabilitation Services.