During an athletes sports season, it is very important to keep healthy. There are many ways to avoid injuries such as stretching well before and after practices/games and icing aches and other pains before they get too serious. With that being said, injuries during athletics are very common, and affect athletes at AHS continually. 

Senior, Mario Garza suffered a severely torn MCL and a partially torn PCL during his senior football season. Although he was only out for one game, he stated,“It was hard to watch practice because you should be practicing with your teammates.” Garza also stated that, “…in a way it makes you appreciate practice.”

Sophomore, Bailey Stark experienced a knee injury during her sophomore volleyball season. This injury put her out for four weeks. “Not being able to be on the court with the team was very hard during that time,” stated Stark. “Having to sit on the bench was not fun.”

Freshman, Ava Weingart has been suffering from a back injury since last summer. “My physical therapist told me that I have pelvic problems and that it is not aligned and I needed to strengthen my core. Basically, my pelvic bone was popping out of place causing a lot of pain, and it radiated through my legs too,” said Weingart. Weingart stated that, “During practice they had me sit out the whole time. I was out for the rest of the summer, and when fall ball started, I tried to practice and the pain came back again.” Weingart stated that she, “…continued to go to the physical therapist and a chiropractor, too. She helped adjust my pelvis, but it didn’t just completely go away. It felt a little better, but I was not ready to start practice again. I was out until the very last week of the season. It was all mentally hard for me to sit at practice and watch the whole team practice because I should’ve been out there with them. I saw many things by watching my teammates like things we could work on, things we do good, and what the coaches see. It made me realize that when I go back to practice I need to think of what I can do as a teammate to help the team and be a better player.” Weingart concluded that, “It definitely was hard to sit out for like the whole season, but I know that this winter I will work on what I missed to get caught up and build my strength.”

An injury during your season can be devastating. Although some injuries are more severe than others, anything that takes you away from the sport you love is very disheartening.