WOODBURY — The score was 4-2 in the third set against Windham in the first round of the Class M volleyball state tournament when my high school volleyball experience was flipped around.
When I jumped to go hit, I came down on my left ankle and shortly was told I had a so-called “third-degree ankle sprain.” After taking some weeks off and being put in a boot, I returned to playing again. After eight months, we found out it was more than a sprain and would need surgery. A long, full year of pain led me to getting surgery and many more months of recovering. This is the moment that no athlete ever hopes to encounter.
Many athletes experience injuries in sports, but in the moment of it happening, nobody realizes that one “small” injury can affect not only the sport, but your whole life.
“It made it a lot harder to do everything from driving to showering,” said junior Derek Chung, who suffered a broken fibula at the end of this year’s Northwest United football season. “I couldn’t do anything, so I just sat around all day, and it was very inconvenient when I would go out anywhere. It was also terrible crutching around the school and the house.”
From having a full schedule every day, which consists of sports, gym, and work, to being laid up homebound for weeks because of an injury, it can have a big impact on athletes’ mental health.
“High school students look forward to their favorite high school sports seasons and attach a lot of meaning to their own performance and their own sense of self,” said NHS psychology teacher Steve Bunovsky. “When they’re injured in a way that ends their season, they often have to redefine who they are as a person. They will also likely have to deal with immense disappointment. The danger, of course, is potentially falling into depression over the injury and its impact on their life.”
As many athletes get down on themselves from having an injury and having to sit out, it shows a different side of athletes that people may not see when they’re playing.
But isolation in the face of an injury doesn’t have to spell the end of an athlete’s impact on their team. For some NHS athletes, an injury simply means an opportunity to take on a new kind of leadership: a chance to help from the sidelines.
“Fortunately, most of the kids I have coached who have gotten injured have still been able to be positive and supportive members of the team,” said NHS science teacher and boys soccer coach Toby Denman. “Sometimes they become the loudest voice from the sideline.”
Since being sidelined myself, this is one thing that either motivates a player to come back better and stronger or discourages a player.
“During volleyball, I got a concussion and was unable to play. I was still going to practice but couldn’t participate at all,” said freshman Chloe Whipple, who helped contribute at the varsity level during her first season. “This made me not look forward to practice because I couldn’t do what I love doing most.”
Although many injuries lead to people having to adjust their lives, it gives athletes something to work towards: mental toughness for when they finally do return to action.
“Unfortunately injuries are part of sports no matter how carefully you train or compete. This year, our team had to fight through multiple big injuries towards the end of the season. Persevering through injuries is all about mental toughness,” said NHS math teacher and volleyball coach Martin Malaspina. “I am confident that our athletes will stay positive and will work hard in the off season to recover and return even stronger for next year.”
Throughout all the injuries that athletes experience, the biggest thing during the whole journey is how you look at it.
“I have seen some who have had an injury, specifically a long-term one, where the injury really affects their mindset and mental health,” said Denman. “I have seen others who have viewed the recovery and rehabilitation process as a challenge and have really embraced working to get back as quickly and as strongly as possible.”
This is an opinion piece written by Chief Advocate reporter Macey Chmiel, a junior volleyball player at Nonnewaug.
