Photo Credits: Farhan Ansari
As high school students, many of us know someone who’s been injured, and many of those injuries come from playing sports. Whether you’re the star player on your team or a benchwarmer, injuries can happen to anyone at any time. Twisted ankles, broken bones, concussions, torn ACL’s— millions of kids every year suffer from all sorts of impairments, large and small. But can high school athletes lower their risk of injury? Does being more active inherently increase your chances at getting hurt? The answer isn’t as obvious as it seems.
Talking to two varsity lacrosse players at Washington, they both agreed that with proper preparation, a student can play sports and keep the chance of injury low. Goalie Farhan Ansari said, “There’s a middle ground where once you play enough, you’ll know how to avoid certain injuries.” Defender Brendan Kearney raised another point, sharing that, “as long as you’re still resting, playing for club teams or different sports shouldn’t increase your injury risk.”
On the statistical level, the risks for some injuries do increase with heavier workloads; overuse injuries— such as stresses on the elbow for baseball players or shoulders for swimmers— will increase depending on how much you play. Those tendons and muscles must have adequate rest to recover from the stress you inflict, and without proper care injury risks can increase quickly. But for catastrophic or acute injuries— strains, fractures, and tears–the only thing you can do is limit recklessness while playing. Athletes will get placed in chaotic situations and freak injuries can occur, but making sure they do not intentionally put themselves in harm’s way will help their chances.
Another important angle to consider is specialization, or playing one sport year round. Studies from the National Institute of Health show that those who specialize are more likely to be injured. Playing a variety of sports evens out the toll that it puts on the body, as different body parts are used more in different sports. Injury rates are rising among the youth when compared to prior years, and specialization plays a big part in that trend. Kids are encouraged to start young in hopes to become elite, which puts strain on those specific body parts earlier than expected and can lead to increased injury risk.
There’s no one answer to the questions surrounding injuries for high schoolers. It is true that athletes put themselves in positions where they can get injured more than the average high schooler, but there’s a number of factors involved. Playing multiple sports is generally safer than specializing in one. You can reduce injury risk by playing safe and limiting recklessness. These things are true, but injuries can also be unpredictable. However, one thing is certain— playing sports and being active likely makes you healthier than most other high schoolers, and if you rest and prepare well, you shouldn’t worry about injuries.
Jacob Carr is a senior at Washington High School, and this is his first year working on The Hatchet. Jacob grew up in South Carolina, but moved to Fremont in 2019. He’s a captain on the varsity lacrosse team, and enjoys playing guitar and bass in his free time. He looks forward to writing about sports, music, and anything else interesting. Jacob wants to go to the University of Oregon for broadcast journalism in hopes of becoming a commentator.