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Sports Injuries and their Impact

December 10, 2018
Posted in Fall 2018
10 Dec 2018
Fall 2018
December 10, 2018 Corey Sullivan

Playing sports is something that many people get to do in their lives. The competitiveness, the drive, the struggle, the feeling of victory are all things that make it worthwhile playing a sport. But the one thing that seems to fall by the wayside quiet often, is the sacrifice and the pain the athletes go through from playing a sport.

While many injuries come and go, there are a lot of different injuries that don’t go away. Lifelong ailments and pain have become a norm for some athletes. According to atyourownrisk.org, 90 percent of student-athletes have reported some type of injury as a result from playing sports.

Montclair State student and former soccer player, Brynn McDonald, suffered career threatening injuries during her playing career. Through the years, injuries had piled up one after another.

A torn ACL, a slipped disk in her back, and a stress fracture in her femur all contributed to her career in soccer ending. “It was devastating, because every year I worked so hard to come back and to come back strong and healthy”, said McDonald.

As much as she wanted to continue to play, her doctors had advised her not too, “The doctors told me that, probably not playing another year of college soccer was what would be in the best interest for me if I wanted to continue to be active as I got older”.

Info Graphic

The graphic below details the amount of injuries in the five major US sports, football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and ice hockey by age groups in 2015. As you can see, basketball and football appear to have the most reported injuries.

Basketball hits its peak at the age group of 15-24 range, while football hits its peak within the age group of the 5-14 range. What is really surprising is the the low amount of injuries reported for ice hockey.

This is likely attributed to the lower amount of athletes playing ice hockey compared to the other sports. Although, according to Insurance Information Institute, ice hockey has the highest percent rate of concussion related injuries, at 12 percent.

According to the American Physical Therapy Association, 8.6 million sports related injuries are reported annually. That is 34.1 out of every 1,000 people.

While playing a sport can be very harmful to the body in the present and the future, it will not stop some from continuing to play.

Marc-Jensen Lida, a resident of Andover, New Jersey, says he continues to do all the athletic activities he has always done despite his injuries. “I like to play basketball and be active. I try and run or bike on an active basis”, said Jensen-Lida. While he likes to be active still, he does say that it is hard to convince his body sometimes.

“Sometimes when I wake up in the morning, its hard to get up out of bed sometimes. Some days are good and some are bad”, he said.

The Andover resident suffered a torn ACL in both of his knees back in high school. the first one was a result of playing football, the other came while playing basketball with his friends.

Not only can it be challenging for an athlete to overcome the physical pain from an injury, but it is as equally challenging to overcome the emotional and psychological impact from an injury. According to NCAA.org, some mental effects for athletes suffering from injury include:

  • -sadness

  • -isolation

  • -irritation

  • -anger

  • -lack of motivation

  • -frustration

  • -lack of appetite

  • -sleep disturbance

  • -disengagement 

Photo Gallery

Below is a photo gallery, featured around three specific individuals. All three subjects are in different stages in their lives, yet all have one thing in common, they live with the effects of their injuries every day. First is Marc Jensen-Lida of Andover, NJ. He tore both of his ACLs while playing two different sports, basketball and football. Next is Bill Bailey of Newton, NJ. Bailey injured shattered his elbow way back when he was 12 years old in his driveway playing basketball. Last is Joe Trapasso of Jefferson, NJ, who tore many ligaments and had several dislocations to his knee.

ANDOVER, NJ 11/02/18 REMINISCING ON PAST INJURIES: Marc Jensen-Lida, 24, posing for a picture in Andover, New Jersey on Friday, November 2nd. Jensen-Lida played football from elementary school through high school in Newton, New Jersey. throughout that time, he had suffered a few major injuries to his body.
ANDOVER, NJ 11/02/18 MAJOR IMPACTS: Marc Jensen-Lida talks about his injuries and how they still impact his to this day, "Everyday I deal with this. sometimes in the morning I cant really move. It is a real struggle". He reveals that his right knee is the biggest problem as they had to perform two surgeries on it to fix his ACL.
ANDOVER, NJ 11/02/18 TWO ACLS: Marc Jensen-Lida shows his two knees that have taken major damge from playing football. He tore both his left and his right ACLs in back to back years of playing football in high school.
NEWTON, NJ 11/03/18 SHATTERED ELBOW: William Bailey, 46, of Newton, NJ shows his elbow that he injured when he was 12 years old. Bailey was a basketball player and landed the wrong way while practicing in his driveway.
NEWTON, NJ 11/03/18 METAL PLATES: William Bailey talks about how he competely shattered his elbow and he then required to have three metal plates and a metal rod inserted in his elbow for a month before having it removed.
NEWTON, NJ 11/03/18 PAINFUL: William Bailey mentions how he cannot bend his elbow back all the way and sometimes has problem with it twitching, "Every once in a while I can feel it twitching and then I feel a sharp pain going down".
JEFFERSON, NJ 11/04/18 HARD BRACE: Joseph Trapasso, 23, of Jefferson, New Jersey looks down on his braced left knee. Trapasso was a hocey player and suffered major damage to his knee over time. Now he constantly wears a large brace to take away some of the pressure on it.
JEFFERSON, NJ 11/04/18 TORN: Joseph Trapasso, from 8th grade to junior year of high school had three dislocations of his left knee that tore the fibers and ligaments that hold his knee cap in place. He had MPFL Reconstructive surgery on his knee in August of 2017.
JEFFERSON, NJ 11/04/18 MRI: Joseph trapasso shows his MRIs that he got that revealed he would need surgery. He was mis diagnosed three times up until this point.
JEFFERSON, NJ 11/04/18 ICED: Joseph Trapasso ices his injured knee after work. He likes to do this to reduce the swelling and help ease some of the pain and discomfort he has.
JEFFERSON, NJ 11/04/18 HOCKEY STICK: Joseph trapasso stands with one of his hockey sticks that he used during his career. Trapasso is currently attempting to become a police officer and his knee is having a big impact on him trying to acheive that goal, "Trying to run has been the biggest issue. I havent been able to run for a long time because of these problems. I think right now its more mentally because I just dont want it to get messed up again".

Corey Shane Sullivan

Senior Television and Digital Media major

I am a Television and Digital Media major, with a concentration in Sports Media and Journalism, currently studying at Montclair State University. I am very passionate about all sports and strive to be involved in the sports industry in some capacity. Currently serving as a social media intern for the Montclair State Women’s basketball team since September 2018. Have experience shooting and editing both video and photos.