In August of 2015, Ivan Ghemmegne’s future in football was uncertain after the running back broke his fibula and tibia at a preseason scrimmage. Play halted immediately, and so, it seemed, did time, as Ghemmegne and every player on the field waited for the ambulance to arrive.
“That day, I was scared. I thought my football career was over,” Ghemmegne said. “My teammates and coaches were telling me, ‘You’ll be fine, you’ll be fine. Just push through it.’ In my head I was like, ‘Man, I’m done.'”
Just more than a year later, Ivan Ghemmegne is three games into his first varsity season with Williamsville North High School football with another tonight. It wasn’t an easy road back, both physically and mentally for Ghemmegne. In fact, he was physically ready months before he had the confidence to use his once-injured leg and take his place on the football field once again.
“I had to go through a lot of therapy, and then I was physically ready, but I wasn’t mentally ready,” Ghemmegne said. “I had to get over that one step of putting my leg on the floor, but I didn’t think I was ready. I finally had one of my former teammates, Zac Kelly, who also broke his leg, come out here on the field with me.”
It was January 2016 when Ghemmegne’s leg was physically ready, but spring had arrived before his mind caught up. Taking the field with 2015 grad Kelly was the turning point for Ghemmegne.
“We used to come here and just run and he would try to push me on my leg, so I would actually try to cut on that leg, and once I realized that I could cut on there, I just went from there,” Ghemmegne said. “I got over that mental part and went from there.”
He worked hard over the summer to be in top form for the beginning of the Williamsville North season.
“I went in the weight room a lot, made sure I got my slant back, come on the field with my teammates, run the ball, get some plays done, and then just get running and getting better,” Ghemmegne said.
In the first two games of the season, Ghemmegne felt good both mentally and physically, and a week 2 win over Kenmore West on Sept. 10 reinforced the physical aspect of Ghemmegne’s game and showed him that he was back to his old self.
“It definitely helped me get back to the form I was before because I knew I was a physical player, but I still was missing that mental part, and after that breakout last week, I figured out that, yeah, I’m back,” Ghemmegne said. “I’m ready to go.”
Ghemmegne has learned to use both the positive and negative as fuel to give the game he loves his all. The crowd, he said, is his favorite part of playing football.
“Especially when we play away and when I get a big run or something, and they’re booing me, it pumps me up,” he said. “I’m just ready to shut them up.”
But playing at home is undoubtedly special as well.
“It is awesome,” Ghemmegne said. “When you get the fans going crazy and your blood just pumps up and you’re just ready to go, ready to pound.”
And last Friday (Sept. 16) was Ghemmegne’s first chance to play in front of his home crowd as a member of the varsity team. The student section, dubbed the “North Squall,” was out in full force as Ghemmegne and his teammates ran onto their brand new turf field for the very first time.
“It was very exciting,” Ghemmegne said. “Coming back in front of the fans on the new field and everybody had a good atmosphere, I mean, we were pumped up. We did our best we could. We all fought.”
And perhaps no one was more excited than Ghemmegne, who’s grateful for every minute of his second chance at football.
“I just had this crazy mindset like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m at home. We’re gonna have fun,'” Ghemmegne said. “And all my boys, we were all pumped up and excited. It was just the best feeling in the world. It was a lot of fun … It was definitely amazing because I’ve been playing away. I haven’t had the chance to play at home yet, and then I got it today and I had to make sure that my fans went home happy.”
In a 28-21 win over Niagara Wheatfield on homecoming night, the fans were certainly happy, and Ghemmegne played well and felt “unstoppable.”
“We were definitely pounding the ball,” he said. “We were doing what was working at the time, and my linemen would open the holes, but we did what we had to do. Running the ball was one of them. Pounding the ball a lot. I felt great. I felt unstoppable … I was pumped up. I didn’t feel no pain or anything. I was ready to go.”
Ghemmegne has learned that nothing comes easy, and the undefeated Spartans’ toughest challenge of the season comes Friday night, as they travel to Lancaster to face the also undefeated Legends in a non-conference game.
Still, Ghemmegne’s hopes for the team this season are high.
“I’m expecting big things out of us,” he said. “We gotta keep working hard in practice and make sure we watch film. We do that, we’re gonna go as far as we can.”