The St. Vincent Sports Medicine’s “Spirit of Sport” Athletic Recognition Dinner 2008 to be held July 13 will be covered in full by HoosierAuthority.com. To get your emotional juices flowing, we will bring you each day this week a nomination for the Creativity – Comeback Athlete of the Year Award.

This winner will prove to be someone who has come back from a setback to accomplish his or her personal best in a particular sport. Monday’s nominee is Indianapolis Chatard football player Dominic Lorenzano.

Dominic Lorenzano
I would like to nominate Dominic Lorenzano of Indianapolis Chatard for the 2008 St. Vincent Spirit of Sport Comeback Athlete of the Year Award. I have had the chance to work with Dominic first-hand through his rehabilitation of a season-ending knee injury.

Dominic suffered a knee injury during the Trojans’ 2007 game against Indianapolis Cathedral. He tore his ACL and medial meniscus. He had surgery right away to repair his medial meniscus and waited to undergo ACL reconstruction until after the season. The hope was that, along with bracing, he would be able to return to play, but unfortunately he was unable to do so.

Dominic remained positive, and he was always the loudest cheerleader during games and practices. I remember times when I would look over at him, when it was freezing cold and he was on crutches on the sideline, and he’d still be cheering his teammates onto victory.

Earlier in the season, Dominic’s niece came down with a serious illness and she was in a coma for a few months. Many times, after practice or even after he was injured, he would spend time at the hospital with her. Dominic was able to persevere through personal and athletic setbacks while maintaining a positive attitude.

Another thing that impresses me was his behavior as the head coach’s son. The coach has won numerous Class 3A football state titles, but you would never know that Dominic’s dad is the coach because he never acts like he is above the other players or is too good to help with the grunt work. In fact, Dominic was one of the first people to help unload the equipment off the bus during road trips.

Unfortunately, Dominic was not able to return to the field to finish his senior season. His plans after graduation include enrolling at Marian College and playing football. Since his knee injury, Dominic has been dedicated to his rehabilitation so that he can continue his football career at Marian.

Dominic could have easily become bitter about the unfortunate events that occurred during his senior season. Instead, he made the choice to help his teammates in any way he could and, as a senior captain in football, he helped lead them to the 2007 3A state championship.

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