Canyon Girls Soar Quickly With Bannister Back on Field

After making an impact on the high school soccer scene during her sophomore year at Canyon High, midfielder Michelle Bannister’s hopes of a promising junior season disappeared on a practice field over the summer.

Bannister was an All-Century League first-team selection and a second-team All-Southern Section pick as a sophomore. She also played in the Olympic Development Program. But she broke her ankle during a practice in September, nearly three months before the high school season was to begin.

Bannister’s right ankle snapped when she got stuck in a tackle. She didn’t realize how badly she was injured right away, but soon the pain took hold.

“At first I didn’t want to cry,” said Bannister, 17. “Then the pain got really bad and I knew something was really wrong. I didn’t go into surgery for two weeks because the doctors thought it would bond, but while I was in a cast it slipped apart again.”

After extensive surgery, which concluded with pins being inserted in her ankle, Bannister underwent nearly nine months of rehabilitation, including physical therapy three times a week and constant icing to relieve the pain.

“I was at home for a while because it was so hard to get around,” Bannister said. “I didn’t like going to watch my team play because I can’t just sit and watch soccer.”

She didn’t take the field again until June, when she attempted to qualify for the Olympic Development Program. However, she was not ready to play at that level.

Now, as a senior, she is the leading scorer for upstart Canyon, which is 11-5, 2-0 in league, ranked eighth in the county and seventh in Southern Section Division II.

“We were expecting to do good this year,” Bannister said. “We were surprised when we made [the top 10] so soon, but we expected to be there at some point.”

Bannister began playing soccer when she was 5, when her mother, also named Michelle, got her on the field. Her two older sisters were both playing, and her mother, who participated in a women’s soccer league, was there to guide them as an assistant youth coach.

“She started us really young and it was just for fun,” Bannister said. “But then it got more competitive for me. I could have quit if I wanted to, but I really liked it.”

Under Coach Alex Camargo, in his first year at Canyon, Bannister is enjoying the game like never before. The Comanches are expected to battle El Modena for the Century League title.

“Michelle is not just any player,” El Modena Coach Jeff Pearson said. “She’s an integral part of Canyon’s team. If they have any hope of winning league, it will go through her.”

Camargo says Bannister, who leads Canyon with 14 goals and has 10 assists, is a definite Division I prospect. She is being recruited by San Diego State, Loyola Marymount and Cal State Fullerton.

“I have known her since she was 14 and watched her play,” Camargo said. “She was a star back then.”

Unfortunately for Camargo, the club team he coaches, the Cerritos Riptide, faced Bannister’s team during Thanksgiving weekend.

“She put the winning goal in on us in overtime,” he said, laughing. “When I came back to [Canyon], I took it out on the team.”