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To the American Christian Academy girls soccer team, Kate Robbins is known as the encourager. The quiet one. The mom of the group, even.
To her twin sister Anna, however, Kate is the queen of perseverance.
The Robbins sisters were born eight weeks premature, with Kate arriving 3 minutes before Anna. At six weeks old, Kate was diagnosed with a Grade IV intraventricular hemorrhage, leaving her with cerebral palsy – a brain disorder often appearing in infancy or early childhood and permanently affecting body movement and muscle coordination, per the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. It occurs in roughly three out of every 1,000 live births. There’s no cure, only various forms of treatment.
Following her diagnosis, doctors told her parents that Kate would likely never walk, talk or function like her peers.
But she did.
Talking came between 6-8 months. Walking was a bit later, with her first steps coming on a special date: her dad’s birthday, May 26, when Kate was 19 months old. She developed to try all kinds of sports as a kid, starting soccer with her sister at age 3.
Everything Kate did, she learned by watching Anna. Whether it was pulling up, walking or kicking a ball, Kate followed her sister's lead.
In September 2023, their roles reversed. During the third game of her club season, Anna tore her ACL in her left knee. Soccer – the center of her world – was suddenly gone, replaced by surgery, rehab and a year on the sideline.
To get through it, Anna turned to the one person who had always shown her how to keep moving forward: Kate.
“Having such a strong person to look up to, there wasn’t another option for me to not keep playing," Anna said.
HILLCREST BASEBALL: 'Writing a new story': Hillcrest baseball rewrites the script for 2025 season
VOTE: Vote for your Tuscaloosa-area boys and girls Athlete of the Week for March 31
In the Robbins household, there is a common saying.
"Hard doesn't mean can't," mother Hope Robbins said. "Any time (Kate) would struggle as a baby to do things, she would get so frustrated and would say it's so hard. And I said it is, but hard does not mean can't – and we're going to figure out a way."
So when Anna tore her ACL last fall, it was Kate who helped her figure it out.
"I'd just be crying," Anna said. "I didn't know what to do. Soccer was who I was for so long."
Anna’s days during her recovery from knee surgery were consumed by physical therapy. She hoped each session would move her closer to getting back on the field.
Through it all, her twin was by her side.
"God is giving this for you to show you something," Kate would say.
While Kate’s words offered comfort, it was the way Anna watched her sister overcome her own day-to-day challenges that inspired her. Tasks like pulling her hair up, turning a doorknob, fully rotating her hand or lifting her foot – things most never think about – are part of Kate's everyday battles. And she meets each one head-on.
"I don't understand how she does it," Anna said. "It takes a special kind of person."
Anna made her return to the pitch last fall with her club team. She rejoined the ACA roster for her senior season.
The sisters have played for coach at Gene Martin since seventh grade, serving as two of four captains on this year's ACA squad. Their mom serves as an assistant.
“(Anna and Kate) are the most amazing story," Martin said.
Anna, a midfielder, recently broke her own single-season scoring record with her 33rd goal, currently sitting at 43 on the season and 93 in her career. Kate, a right defender, has scored four goals in her ACA career.
They drive each other.
The twins will be attending Berry College in Rome, Georgia, next fall, with Anna signing to play for the Vikings women's soccer team. They will be roommates – their first time sharing a room since the fifth grade.
They'll be there to encourage each other.
"We are just each other's biggest cheerleaders," Anna said. “I still look up to her this day,” Kate added.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: ACA soccer twins: Anna helps sister Kate cope with cerebral palsy
Continue reading...
To her twin sister Anna, however, Kate is the queen of perseverance.
The Robbins sisters were born eight weeks premature, with Kate arriving 3 minutes before Anna. At six weeks old, Kate was diagnosed with a Grade IV intraventricular hemorrhage, leaving her with cerebral palsy – a brain disorder often appearing in infancy or early childhood and permanently affecting body movement and muscle coordination, per the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. It occurs in roughly three out of every 1,000 live births. There’s no cure, only various forms of treatment.
Following her diagnosis, doctors told her parents that Kate would likely never walk, talk or function like her peers.
But she did.
Talking came between 6-8 months. Walking was a bit later, with her first steps coming on a special date: her dad’s birthday, May 26, when Kate was 19 months old. She developed to try all kinds of sports as a kid, starting soccer with her sister at age 3.
Everything Kate did, she learned by watching Anna. Whether it was pulling up, walking or kicking a ball, Kate followed her sister's lead.
In September 2023, their roles reversed. During the third game of her club season, Anna tore her ACL in her left knee. Soccer – the center of her world – was suddenly gone, replaced by surgery, rehab and a year on the sideline.
To get through it, Anna turned to the one person who had always shown her how to keep moving forward: Kate.
“Having such a strong person to look up to, there wasn’t another option for me to not keep playing," Anna said.
HILLCREST BASEBALL: 'Writing a new story': Hillcrest baseball rewrites the script for 2025 season
VOTE: Vote for your Tuscaloosa-area boys and girls Athlete of the Week for March 31
'Hard doesn't mean can't'
In the Robbins household, there is a common saying.
"Hard doesn't mean can't," mother Hope Robbins said. "Any time (Kate) would struggle as a baby to do things, she would get so frustrated and would say it's so hard. And I said it is, but hard does not mean can't – and we're going to figure out a way."
So when Anna tore her ACL last fall, it was Kate who helped her figure it out.
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"I'd just be crying," Anna said. "I didn't know what to do. Soccer was who I was for so long."
Anna’s days during her recovery from knee surgery were consumed by physical therapy. She hoped each session would move her closer to getting back on the field.
Through it all, her twin was by her side.
"God is giving this for you to show you something," Kate would say.
While Kate’s words offered comfort, it was the way Anna watched her sister overcome her own day-to-day challenges that inspired her. Tasks like pulling her hair up, turning a doorknob, fully rotating her hand or lifting her foot – things most never think about – are part of Kate's everyday battles. And she meets each one head-on.
"I don't understand how she does it," Anna said. "It takes a special kind of person."
Anna's return to the field
Anna made her return to the pitch last fall with her club team. She rejoined the ACA roster for her senior season.
The sisters have played for coach at Gene Martin since seventh grade, serving as two of four captains on this year's ACA squad. Their mom serves as an assistant.
You must be registered for see images
“(Anna and Kate) are the most amazing story," Martin said.
Anna, a midfielder, recently broke her own single-season scoring record with her 33rd goal, currently sitting at 43 on the season and 93 in her career. Kate, a right defender, has scored four goals in her ACA career.
They drive each other.
The twins will be attending Berry College in Rome, Georgia, next fall, with Anna signing to play for the Vikings women's soccer team. They will be roommates – their first time sharing a room since the fifth grade.
They'll be there to encourage each other.
"We are just each other's biggest cheerleaders," Anna said. “I still look up to her this day,” Kate added.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: ACA soccer twins: Anna helps sister Kate cope with cerebral palsy
Continue reading...
