Athletes are pulled out with new injuries every day from playing their favorite games. Few of the injuries being severe enough to pull them from the rest of their season.

“It sucks,” sophomore Teagan Troute said. “Because you don’t get to participate in anything you love.”

High school athletes alone account for 2 million of the 3.5 million total sports related injuries each year. Sports injuries tend to be patterned specifically for the sport being played, as well as the unique play of an athlete. Volleyball coach and special education teacher Katherine Kerner recalled her personal injuries.

“So many times,” Kerner said. “I fractured my spine, I was out for the rest of my senior year in high school. I have had two knee surgeries from volleyball, and I had to go through rehab as well as physical therapy.”

Treatment for injuries is relative to the severity of the injury, minor things such as sprains and aches can be handled with icing. Larger injuries such as breaks or ACL injuries may need surgery and physical therapy to help them return to play.

“I think the hardest injuries to recover from are the ones where the recovery process takes an extended period of time,” Athletic Trainer Gary Stevanus said. “The mental aspect of recovering from such an injury can be just as difficult as the physical healing and rehabilitation process.”

Coaches and athletic trainers give tips to all their athletes to help avoid injury. The whole team must go through changes when one player is out. Loss of a player from one team not only affects that team but the entire program.

“It can affect morale,” coach and special education teacher Sandra Finley said. “Especially if it’s one of your better players. Or someone who has an important position, like the setter. People can get down, and sometimes there is panic.”