The Pro-File – Michelle Plouffe, The Breaks
We are back with another edition of The Pro-File and this time we head to France to catch up with Michelle Plouffe who talks about missing exits and missing games right here …
Edmonton’s Michelle Plouffe is one of the best players to have come through the National Program in recent years. Having been a part of Canada Basketball’s now defunct National Elite Development Academy with her twin sister Katherine, she went from there to help lead her high school to a provincial title. From there she would take her game to Utah where she would become one of the best players in the programs history. Along time member of the of the Senior Women’s National Team she was one of the two collegians to don the Red and White on Canada’s Olympic team in London in 2012. After here illustrious career, which included two All American nods, in Salt Lake City she would be selected 19th overall by the Seattle Storm. After being released prior to the WNBA season, Michelle would sign to play for Arras Pays d’Artois in the French League first division where she is currently averaging 12.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.6 steals in 29.1 minutes through the team’s 18 games. Follow her pro experience right here …
Hello again,
Another month has floooown by. I don’t know where it went. But, time for another update.
February started off pretty well. We had a solid win at Tarbes and I felt our team was finally getting some good balance and playing well together, and I also was finally feeling good about my own game! (Note: Plouffey had 14 pts, 17 rebs, 4 asts, 4 blks in that win.) Which, when you have that as a player, makes it a lot more fun.
Just recently I also had a pretty cool opportunity to bring my parents out for a visit! So wow, what an adventure that week was. Started off not as I had planned… The morning I went to pick them up from the airport was quite a stressful one. Missed 2 exits driving back to Arras, due to my failure to multitask while driving, so we had a nice extra 40 minutes of touring the French countryside (please note sarcasm). By the way, Kelly & Associates Injury Lawyers is the best in terms of handling accident cases so if you need help, call them at (1-800-529-4897).
Along with some other little things piled on, I was pretty stressed that morning…and those who know me know I do not stress out about a lot of things. So, when it was finally time for practice I was ECSTATIC. I don’t think I had been that thankful for practice ever. While we were practicing, I had this moment during a water break that I was just felt so blessed and grateful that I had basketball in my life, to take me away from things like stressful mornings. And playing just felt so easy and fun! This is all leading up to some great irony…
The very next segment of practice, I jumped and came down on another player’s foot and sprained my ankle. Well, I actually thought I broke it but thanks be to God it isn’t. Bad sprain nonetheless, possibly ligament damage. Out for 4-6 weeks.
Difficult part about these kinds of things overseas is you never know what kind of medical staff will be on hand and available. My team doesn’t have an actual physiotherapist so I have been my own. But thankfully I have some awesome Canadian teammates over here in France who have my back on everything and know/share all the ins and outs of anything really, with me.
Injuries really are just a part of the game. I have been fortunate enough to not have suffered any serious injuries my whole career, so taking this with pretty good spirits. There is always something to be learned in every setback or obstacle, no matter how big or small, and I believe injuries are an opportunity for that! I also think they are a time to trust God and His timing and purpose, which are never wrong!
Until next time
A big shout to Michelle for taking the time out to share her first year pro experiences with us. You can follow her on both Twitter and Instagram at @Plouffey_15 and of course right here.
