Senior Abby Rivard has experienced many concussions as a result of playing sports.  These concussions have caused her to miss school, miss practices, and have made her at risk for future concussions.  Concussions are one of the many serious injuries that can result from playing high school sports.

The Pediatric Orthopedic Society of North America sites five categories of injuries common in high school athletes.  The categories being the following; acute injuries, overuse injuries, catastrophic sports injuries, concussions, and growth plate injuries.  Each of these injuries are caused from a different instance in a injury, and result in different treatment options.

Acute injuries happen with a sudden trauma.  This can be the result of collisions or serious falls.  In contact sports like soccer, football, and basketball, acute injuries are very common.

Overuse injuries happen when athletes overuse a specific muscle, tendon, or bone.  These usually can happen when an athlete starts doing too much too fast.  In many high schools sports were student’s aren’t playing year round, these injuries can be extremely common.

Catastrophic injuries are less common, but very serious.  These injuries occur when the head or neck are injured.  Because of the importance of the head, neck, and spinal cord, these injuries usually cause irreversible dangers.

Concussions are the most common among high school athletes.  For high schoolers who’s brains are not fully developed, concussions can be very severe.  Also, people like Rivard are at a higher risk of getting multiple concussions.

Growth plate injuries are also common in high school athletes because high schooler’s bones are not done growing yet.  By damaging these bones, athletes are at risk for irreversible dangers.

The most important thing for high school athletes to remember when recovering from a sports injury is that their injury does not define them.  People need to remember that just because they cannot play the sport they love, doesn’t mean they can’t be who they are.

Some people think, if all these horrible things come from playing high school sports, what’s the point?

I believe that despite the various possible injuries, high schoolers should still play contact sports.  The many stories of athletes who get severly injured should not scare others from playing.  They should serve as testaments for how to prevent certain injuries, but in no way should scare other high schoolers out of playing the sports they love.

We, as a society, hear many stories each year of athletes who get very severely injured.  Athletes who die playing their sport or who are so injured, they never return to the same person they were before.  While these stories are true, there are also millions of athletes out there that are extremely healthy, injury free.