ACL Tear Can’t Keep Young Soccer Player Down

Stanford Children’s pediatric orthopedic surgeons are known for treating children with open growth plates

“Elise tore her ACL two years ago, and we didn’t even know it,” says her mom, Brooke Burkhardt.

When the injury occurred, Elise, then age 9, was playing soccer at camp. She landed funny after a kick. There was no big, dramatic moment like a collision with another player or a fall.

ACL tears used to be more of an older teen or adult injury. Not anymore.

“ACL tears are becoming increasingly common in children. Twenty years ago, they were rare. Today, my team and I perform the surgery several times a week on children as young as 5 years old,” says Kevin Shea, MD, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon and director of the Sports Medicine program at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health.

Elise continued to play soccer with on-and-off knee pain. Her doctor thought she might have a stress fracture, and she received physical therapy. So when she walked off the soccer field during a game a year ago, her parents knew something was seriously wrong.

“We were shocked. Elise has a lot of grit, and she never gives up,” says Brooke. “She is not afraid to push through pain—she even played with pneumonia once.”

An MRI revealed a longstanding ACL tear. The Burkhardts had trouble finding an orthopedic surgeon willing to operate on Elise because her growth plates were still open. Growth plates are cartilage at the end of large bones. As a child grows, the cartilage becomes bone—usually in the mid-teens. Before that, growth plates are soft and can be damaged.  

Finding an orthopedic surgeon to perform ACL surgery with open growth plates

“We needed to find someone who could perform the surgery without risk to her growing body,” Brooke says. “When we met Dr. Shea, we had immediate confidence. We scheduled surgery on the spot.”

At Stanford Children’s, Dr. Shea, Molly Meadows, MD, and Charles Chan, MD, specialize in performing surgeries on young athletes with open growth plates. They have a strong reputation for expertly handling these tricky surgeries.

“In younger kids, every joint in their body has an open growth plate,” Dr. Shea says. “We have to perform surgery differently and be very careful not to affect growth plates; otherwise it can change how bones grow.”

The doctors are involved in intensive research on open growth plates with several centers across the world. The research group combines data on surgical techniques and outcomes, creating a powerful database for seeing trends in joint injuries and surgeries of the ACL, meniscus, and shoulder.

“Participating in this research gives us confidence to safely perform growth-plate-sparing surgeries on very young children,” Dr. Shea says.   

The family was grateful to find a surgeon who really listened and didn’t brush aside their concerns.

“It was a great relief finding Dr. Shea and coming to Stanford Children’s,” Brooke says.    

Elise’s ACL surgery went just as planned, and she started the long road of recovery.

Choosing Stanford Children’s for physical therapy

Elise’s dad had recently had ACL reconstruction, so he fully understood what Elise was going through and encouraged her along the way. He also insisted that she receive physical therapy from the Stanford Children’s Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy program, even though it wasn’t close to home.

The family endured a 40-minute to 1.5-hour drive from Morgan Hill to Sunnyvale twice a week, because they wanted Elise to have the comprehensive care that the Stanford Children’s Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Center offers young athletes.

“We would choose the drive all over again, despite the early mornings and being in bumper-to-bumper traffic. It was worth it,” Brooke says.

Elise was in physical therapy for a little over 10 months. A usual physical therapy stint after an ACL surgery is about 12 to 15 months, so the family credits Dr. Shea for performing an expert surgery, Sarah Anderson, PT, DPT, for helping Elise successfully progress through therapy at a good yet safe pace, and the high-tech Motion Analysis and Sports Performance Laboratory for helping Elise return to sport early.

“I have access to exceptional resources for my patients,” Dr. Shea says. “We have the very latest technology, such as our innovative rapid MRI for 4-D images of the knee and ankle and our cutting-edge Motion Lab. And our sports physical therapists are world-class.”

The Motion Lab’s advanced equipment provides precise measurements of a child’s joint motion and function. The technology includes 3-D motion capture that is very similar to what is used in movie and video game studios. Movement data paired with force platforms and a fully instrumented treadmill allows the lab staff to analyze the physics of how each limb moves, bringing to focus a patient’s progress in a way that is impossible to see with the naked eye. There are very few labs like it on the West Coast.

“We can measure how much each joint is being utilized and see when an athlete is compensating somewhere else in their body, even when it’s subtle,” says Jeff Morgan, ATC, the lab’s biomechanist.

Catching compensation patterns (e.g., putting more weight on one leg to protect the other), and correcting them, often means less chance of a repeat injury. Elise’s test showed that her knee was working well and taking an equal distribution of the load when running and jumping.

During her recovery, Elise had a few setbacks. She needed a second surgery from Dr. Shea on her other knee to remove scar tissue, and she also had debilitating heel pain. At one point, her mom suggested that she could give up soccer, since she was going through so much. Elise refused.

“Despite the extra setbacks, Elise was released to return to sport early. That was impressive. She did remarkably well,” says Deborah Callahan, ATC, athletic trainer with the Motion Lab.

Back to playing with full strength

Elise is back on the field, playing soccer with zero restrictions. She plays midfield for the Almaden Futbol Club in San Jose, an elite soccer club that competes nationally, and she recently accepted an offer to join the club’s Girls Academy team for the 2025–2026 season.

“Elise was a focused, motivated patient, and her family’s steadfast commitment was hugely important for her recovery,” Dr. Shea says. “We were honored to help her return fully to sport.”

Elise received mental health support from former Bay FC and Stanford University soccer star Maya Doms, who served as her mentor through an organization called Female Footballers. Maya helped Elise regain confidence after her injury. Working with a star soccer player from Stanford was a full-circle moment for Elise.     

Today, she totally trusts her knee to perform.

“It feels really good to return to soccer,” says Elise. “My knee is better than it has been in two years.”