A Closer Look at Sports Injuries: Professionally and as a Student Athlete
Imagine the silence of a stadium, the gasp of thousands as an athlete falls to the ground, their season, or even career ending during that moment is at stake. Now, change your focus to high school sports, where the dreams of young student athletes contrast with the reality of sports injuries.
This article explores the similarities and unique challenges faced by both professional athletes and student athletes, highlighting the importance of understanding sports injuries in creating a well-being and performing at the best of your ability.
Understanding Sports Injuries is a Very Important for Many Reasons
At the professional level, these injuries can be way more complicated, affecting not only the athlete but also the entire team, franchise, and even the fan base.
These injuries can lead to financial losses, change in team chemistry, and a change to the expectations of performance.
Overall, the long-term health of professional athletes can be extremely impacted, potentially influencing their career after retirement and their life in general.
On the other hand, school athletics can be different. The importance of understanding sports injuries lies in protecting the future of student athletes. Their bodies are still developing, and early injuries can have long-term effects.
Being able to notice these issues can help prevent long-term problems, ensuring that student athletes can play at the best of their ability.
Also, by taking proper safety measures at a young age, will not only reduce the risk of injuries but also improve physical well-being.
Definition of Sports Injuries
Sports injuries can be a wide range of physical traumas during athletic activities. These injuries can affect many parts of the body, such as muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, and joints. They may result from instant impacts, overuse, improper warming-up, and improper technique.
Statistics
Professional Athletes
- NFL (National Football League):
Injuries are very common, with an average of 3,025 injuries per year.
- NBA (National Basketball Association):
Average of 4.8 injuries per team every year.
- MLB (Major League Baseball):
During a full season, the injury incidence rate is 8.69.
Importance of Early Detection and Treatment of Sports Injuries
Early diagnosing and the right treatment of sports injuries are important parts of being a responsible athlete. Recognizing an injury early is an important part in preventing further long-term injury.
Early treatment often relates to a faster recovery, letting athletes return to their sports with a reduced risk of more problems to come.
Furthermore, addressing injuries early can help the athletes overall well-being. This highlights that even the slightest injuries shouldn’t be ignored.
Recent Professional Sport Injuries
Aaron Rodgers (Achilles)
On September 11, 2023, the Jets season opener, Rodgers went down with a left Achilles tear on just the fourth play of the season.
Rodgers then underwent surgery on September 13 due to the intensity of the season. Rodgers goal is to play again this year.
Shohei Ohtani (UCL)
On September 2, 2023, the LA Angels of Anaheim had a doubleheader. Ohtani pitched the first game of this doubleheader.
After his start was cut short he realized he suffered a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament of his throwing elbow.
Ohtani had to take measures and shut down pitching for the rest of the season. Already having Tommy John Surgery once, Ohtani is realizing he may have to get it a second time.
Student-Athletes Injuries from Christian Brothers Academy
I interviewed three students at CBA, Sam Santos (Thrower), Eric Fradkin (baseball), Justin Fuerbacher (Basketball) and asked them about their experiences going through a specific injury as a student athlete at CBA.
Sam Santos
Santos was weightlifting after school when he hurt his knee.
“I was doing cleans and put too much weight on after a week off of training,” Santos said.
He couldn’t walk or even jump. He went to physical therapy, and did stretching for his recovery, and also did workouts to strengthen his knee. Now Sam prevents this by being careful, and not loading as much weight.
Eric Fradkin
Fradkin injured his arm. He did this when he was at baseball practice, and was throwing the ball from the mound to home at a very low velocity.
“I pitched through the injury for a large chunk of the school season, after missing the first few weeks, but then had to be out from late May until early October,” said Fradkin.
His doctor told him he had to rest, do physical therapy, and follow a throwing program so he can recover the best way.
I asked Fradkin,
“How are you preventing this injury from happening again?”
“Continuing the exercises and stretches from physical therapy, and most importantly, hope,” Fradkin replied.
Justin Fuerbacher
Justin strained his left calf. It was the Shore Conference quarterfinal game against St. Rose and he went up for a rebound.
When he went for the rebound he got undercut by somebody and when he landed he hurt his left foot. After this injury, he needed crutches for the first couple of days.
“…in a week we had to play Rutgers Prep in the first round of the state tournament. If I had just gotten basic rehab I wouldn’t have been ready to play and it would have been about 2 weeks to recover, but I was back in time to play Rutgers Prep,” Fuerbacher said.
Fuerbacher had to be with the school trainer constantly after school to recover. Fuerbacher has learned to stretch his ankles as a part of his routine during his games.
In the world of sports, from professionally to student-athletes, the threat of injuries could be very severe. This article dives into the challenges faced by professional and student athletes, highlighting the importance of knowing about injuries and how to recover from them to get back onto the field.
