In addition to improving performance in a sport, training in the weight room can also help to prevent injuries. Photo by: Casey McDonald

By Casey McDonald

From freshman to senior, football to track, there are many different athletes who do many different activities within the school and the community. Athletes at Plymouth High School are injured countless times during sports that could cause their career to end, though some may not be quite that major.

Injuries are the number one cause of players not being able to participate in sports. Sophomore Lauren Tanner said she had an injury recently. “I pulled a muscle in my back while hurdling for track.” While Tanner pulled a muscle, sophomore Ike Kastner sprained his knee in a basketball practice. Sophomore Allie Berger injured herself playing tennis. “I was in gym and hyper-extended my thumb,” Berger said. Senior Nathan Benham said that he hyper-extended his elbow in football “when a Bremen kid rolled over my arm at the bottom of the pile.”

When someone gets injured, the athlete  must sit out for a extended period of time for that injury to recover. Kastner said that he was not able to walk; therefore, he could not play. Benham said that the injury did not really impact his playing ability. Berger said that it has affected playing a lot, “but I could play through the pain. Except for one match last year I hit [the ball] and ended up screaming. It was pretty bad,” Berger said. “I could not hurdle for two weeks because that’s how long it took for the muscle to recover,” Tanner said.

Being cautious after an injury to prevent it from happening again is often a good thing. Berger said that she thinks she needs to be more cautious when it comes to playing rough. “Other than that, I am pretty good to go.” Benham said to prevent his injury he is going to try not to get tackled as hard. While Kastner said to prevent his sprain from happening again he will be cautious when making sharp cuts and wear  his knee sleeve. “I go through a stretching routine every day before and after track, as well as before and after hurdling,” Tanner said.

After a while, the injury may fade if it were not major. But there are still precautions that people take just as a routine to prevent more injuries. “I have been playing the sport fully because my knee is almost back to 100%,” Kastner said. “I have been continuing my sport fully stretching and warming up thoroughly are the precautions I take,” Tanner said. Berger said that she has been playing fully but during the rest of that season she had problems with it. “Like I said, I play through the pain. And I gripped the racket with the other fingers. Sometimes it still hurts in the cold but it is not too bad.”

Injuries are serious and need to be taken care of thoroughly.