Three Moccasins Have a Unique Connection Through Diabetes

LAKELAND, Fla. – Three members of the Florida Southern College volleyball team share a unique connection that they have been dealing with since their youth. Head Coach Ashlee Crowder, senior Mackenzie Petermann and junior Megan Carron are all type 1 diabetics and have formed a bond while dealing with the unique challenges associated with regulating your blood sugar while competing at the collegiate level.
 
All three of their stories have a number of similarities but all three have gone through different challenges to get where they are today.
 
Megan Carron grew up in St. Louis, Mo. where she was brought up among all the different youth sports with a particular focus on soccer and basketball. As the end of Carron's second grade year approached, she was excited about the upcoming club soccer tryouts with hopes of earning a spot on the team. Many of her friends, whom she had grown up playing the sport with, were going out for the team as well so it was an exciting time for a young athlete. Unfortunately for Carron, an upcoming hospital stay and diagnosis would change her life forever.   
 
Just weeks away from her upcoming tryout, Carron was admitted to the hospital after spiking an extremely high fever. After losing over 10 pounds and her first communion dress barely fitting, her parents knew something wasn't right. Her father, Jeremy, was a firefighter and paramedic at the time and had an idea of what might be wrong with his daughter but he and the family awaited the doctor's diagnosis. After several tests and evaluations, the medical staff informed Carron and her parents that she had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Carron had grown up with a classmate since kindergarten who had dealt with diabetes but this was a whole new understanding for the young athlete.
 
According to the Mayo Clinic, type 1 diabetes, once known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, is a chronic condition. In this condition, the pancreas makes little or no insulin. Insulin is a hormone the body uses to allow sugar (glucose) to enter cells to produce energy.
 
Different factors, such as genetics and some viruses, may cause type 1 diabetes. Although type 1 diabetes usually appears during childhood or adolescence, it can develop in adults.
 
Even after a lot of research, type 1 diabetes has no cure. Treatment is directed toward managing the amount of sugar in the blood using insulin, diet and lifestyle to prevent complications.
 
Carron had to spend a week in the hospital learning as much as possible about diabetes and what she had to do in order to live with the disease.
 
"I was devasted," said Carron when speaking about missing her long-awaited club soccer tryouts. "I spent that entire summer getting acclimated with my new lifestyle."
 
In the hospital, Carron was trained on how to use her insulin, how to calculate and test her blood and so much more. Once discharged, Carron was walking into a whole new world where she would have to track everything she ate, give herself several shots a day and learn how to calculate how what she eats affects her blood sugar level. Just over two years following her diagnosis, Carron received her first insulin pump which eliminated the need for shots but she was still required to do all the calculations to determine the amount of insulin needed. The next breakthrough in technology came later and that was the Dexcom CGM (continuous glucose monitor) which eliminated a large number of finger pricks. The CGM continuously monitors the glucose (blood sugar) level of the patient and relays that information to an app on their phone.
 
Volleyball began the fall of her third-grade year in St. Louis, so Carron, who was devasted by missing out on the club soccer season, decided to give volleyball a try. It was a new sport for all those involved and Carron ended up falling in love with the sport and played it the rest of her school years, eventually earning a spot at Florida Southern. It only took her one year of playing at her school for Carron to jump into the club level where she joined her first club team at the age of nine. The all-around athlete also continued to put her focus into basketball and competed for her school all the way through eighth grade before her sole focus turned to volleyball.
 
Outside of volleyball, Carron spent much of her youth as a member of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) including serving as an ambassador for the organization for three years. The JDRF opened the world of type 1 diabetes to Carron and showed her the number of individuals and families affected by the disease that many outside those dealing for hand with diabetes don't normally see.  She has attended several galas and walks to help with fundraising and that has continued at Florida Southern where she, along with Petermann and coach Crowder, hold a Dig for Diabetes match every year to held raise awareness and money for those battling diabetes on a daily basis. 
 
Once arriving in Lakeland, Carron experienced something brand-new in her volleyball journey. She not only had a teammate who 100 percent understood what she was going through on a daily basis but also had an assistant coach, at the time, who knew exactly how it felt to deal with a blood sugar spike or drop.
 
"I never really had any teammates or coaches who truly understood type 1 diabetes," said Carron. "In fact, growing up it was often a struggle because during practices when coaches would be really tough and practices would get difficult my blood sugar would drop. So then, at some points I would have to sit out and watch my teammates continue to go through conditioning or practice while I waited for my blood sugar to get high enough to return to practice and that would sometimes frustrate my coaches."
 
On April 12, 2012, Mackenzie Petermann was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and was told she would never be able to play sports again. Fast forward to present day, Petermann is now a senior on the FSC volleyball team and was recently named the Sunshine State Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the third time in her career.
 
Petermann grew up as a well-rounded multi-sport athlete in Richmond Hill, Ga., a small town on the outskirts of Savannah, Ga. In 2012 as a fourth grader, she fell ill, reporting unusual symptoms of extreme dehydration and diminished appetite while experiencing significant weight loss. Her parents originally thought it was just a bad flu, but after getting her blood sugar tested, it was clear that type 1 diabetes was the culprit. Petermann spent the next week in the hospital and learned how to count carbs and to calculate the insulin she needed. At that time, she was surveilling her blood sugar with a glucose monitor and self-administering insulin shots. 
 
Before her diagnosis, her main sport was basketball. However, returning to play with a life altering disease was a difficult adjustment and unfortunately, Petermann had lost her love for the sport. 
 
She was introduced to volleyball when her older sister joined a local club. Following in her sister's footsteps, Petermann discovered her natural talent for the game, making the middle school team as a sixth grader and eventually traveling with USA Volleyball over the summers during high school. Over time, she became more comfortable with diabetes, and fell more in love with volleyball. According to her mom, Mackenzie knew she wanted to play volleyball in college from her first practice. However, dealing with diabetes and the stress of college athletics would be a challenge for Mackenzie and her parents. Looking back on her recruitment days, Petermann explained how intimidating it was to leave home given her disease. "College was scary to figure out… not only am I going to college, but I'm going with an autoimmune disease", Petermann reminisced. 
 
When looking for schools, it was important that she found a coach who understood diabetes and the struggles that accompany it. She met current FSC Head Coach Ashlee Crowder at a club tournament in Florida and was invited to campus for a visit. Crowder, also a type 1 diabetic, was a former collegiate volleyball player and went through the same struggles that Mackenzie would soon face.
 
Not only does Mackenzie have a coach to relate to, but her teammate Megan as well. "It's really cool to have people to talk/text when I'm having pump or CGM issues," mentioned Petermann. "There's been times where I had to borrow Megan's CGM supplies on a road trip. It's helpful to have someone who understands my frustrations, especially since I haven't had that in years past." 
 
When Petermann was first diagnosed, she didn't know anyone else her age with type 1 diabetes. She and her mom helped host a "Dig for Diabetes" match when she was in high school to help spread awareness and accumulate funding for research and medical trials that she participated in herself. The match connected Mackenzie to a few young athletes who had also been told diabetes would end their future in sports. She has even mentored a few of these players throughout her career. "Being a role model for these girls and showing them that they can live (and compete) with this disease is really cool," said Petermann. 
 
Over the last few years, Carron and Petermann have become quite close not only due to their diagnosis but because they have found true friendship between them. They are able to go to each other when dealing with struggles both on and off the court when it comes to diabetes but also in just general life as friends and teammates.
 
Carron, who was named the Female Iron Moc last year as the strongest female athlete in the Florida Southern College Department of Athletics, attributes some of that success due to her being uniquely aware of every food that enters her body. She is also very in tune with how her body is feeling at any given moment due to the hyper focus of feeling whether her blood sugar is high or low.
 
The defensive specialist has appeared in 34 career matches for the Moccasins after missing the entire 2022 season due to injury. She has 32 career service aces and 225 career digs. She currently plans to seek a career in athletics following her graduation whether as a coach or a member of an athletic department staff.
 
Petermann has accumulated 69 match appearances during her career with the Mocs, as well as being named SSC All-Freshman Team (2021), Second Team All-SSC (2021), and Third Team All-SSC (2022). She has an astounding 930 career kills and 623 digs. 
 
Head Coach Ashlee Crowder grew up loving numerous different sports before becoming a three-sport student-athlete all throughout her high school career. Unlike her student-athletes who were diagnosed as elementary school students, Crowder did not receive her type 1 diabetes diagnosis until she was a freshman in high school. Similar to Carron's and Petermann's diagnosis, Crowder found herself in the emergency room due to a number of undiagnosed symptoms. After the doctor's ran numerous tests they determined she had type 1 diabetes and she then spent a week in the ICU learning how to deal with the difficult disease.
 
"At that moment, I'll never forget," said coach Crowder, "I asked the nurses and doctors, who were in the room, can I play sports? Because I was so new to diabetes and never really heard of it, and they said 'you can do it, you can do it'."
 
Crowder made a choice at that moment to continue to pursue her dreams of being a collegiate athlete while also learning to live with this new normal. She had to focus on regaining her strength while also learning how different foods affected her blood sugar levels. Crowder and her teammates went on to capture the State Championship during Crowder's senior season in high school before she went on to have a decorated collegiate career. She spent the first seven years after her diagnosis using insulin shots to help regulate her level before receiving an insulin pump as a sophomore in college.
 
Crowder played collegiately at Hillsdale College. She continues to be Hillsdale's career leader in kills (1,703) and her 491 kills in 2009 are the third-highest single-season total in Charger history. Crowder was twice named the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Player of the Year in 2010 and 2011 as well as the Daktronics Midwest Region Player of the Year in 2011. Additionally, she was a three-time AVCA All-American, including consecutive First Team All-America honors in 2010 and 2011. In 2018, Crowder was inducted into the Hillsdale College Athletics Hall of Fame.
 
She then went on to entering the coaching ranks where she served as an assistant coach at Grand Valley State, UIndy and Florida Southern. She received her first head coaching position at Florida Tech where she served for two seasons before returning to FSC prior to the 2023 season.
 
Crowder has used her experience with diabetes to connect with both Carron and Petermann. She can sense when each of them is not feeling 100 percent and may be dealing with spikes or dips in their sugar levels.
 
"You just sort of pick up on things that they do or expressions they make when their sugar goes low," said coach Crowder. "I dealt with the same thing as a student-athlete and had a face I would make that my coach would pick up on."
 
"We are all very competitive and frequently have mini competitions to see whose numbers are better," continued coach Crowder. "Mackenzie texted me over the summer to tell me her A1C number and it was really good so I was really happy for her. I support them and want them to be the best student-athletes and people they can be and also learn that they continue to live a very normal lifestyle with this disease."
 
All three feel very passionate about bringing awareness and funding to diabetes research. Coach Crowder began the process of planning the first Dig for Diabetes match prior to her leaving FSC to take the head coaching position at Florida Tech. After successful events in both 2021 and 2022, the trio are excited to continue the tradition on Friday, Oct. 27 as the Moccasins host Barry in the annual Dig for Diabetes match.
 
"I'm excited to finally be here," said coach Crowder when discussing the Dig for Diabetes match. "I initially started the planning process when I was still here as an assistant coach and Jill (Stephens) was able to send me a shirt after the first match since I left for Florida Tech. I think it brings some acknowledgment to the disease and gives some credit to those dealing with it on a daily basis because it's like a full time job. I don't believe many people know the extent of what people go through on a daily basis and this event brings some awareness to that struggle."
 
"I was speaking to Mackenzie's mom following a recent match and I'll never forget that over 20 years ago when I was first diagnosed my endocrinologist told me 'don't worry a cure is coming soon'," said coach Crowder. "I've heard that same sentiment every single year and it doesn't seem like we are any closer to a cure so the funding and research is very important."
 
In 2019, 37.3 million Americans, or 11.3% of the population, had diabetes and nearly 1.9 million have type 1 diabetes, including about 244,000 children and adolescents. For more information about the diagnosis, treatment and research into diabetes visit the American Diabetes Association at Diabetes.org.