When I’m walking around school on crutches I’m wondering, “Are sports worth it?”

Throughout my high school years in sports, I have been injured quite a bit, and a couple of them were pretty serious. 

In 11th grade, during the field hockey season, I got a really bad concussion. I ran into someone’s shoulder blade really hard and next thing you know I’m unconscious on the ground. I woke up and all I remember is my neck hurt really bad, I had a really bad headache, and I could barely open my eyes because the light hurt them.

 My coach told my mom to take me to the hospital – so that’s what she did. They put a neck brace on my neck just in case, because I said it hurt. They gave me medication for my headache and gave me a CT scan which showed I had a major concussion. They told me no sports for a while and no electronics – and to not go to school until my head starts to feel better. 

I was out of school for a week because looking at paper and trying to read just really hurt my head. Concussions really affect the brain, which affects kids going to school and learning.

Concussions are a very common yet serious injury in high school sports https://headcasecompany.com/concussion_info/stats_on_concussions_sports states, “Head impacts and concussions caused by contact sports are a quickly growing epidemic among young athletes. When left undetected, concussions can result in long-term brain damage and may even prove fatal.”

This shows how serious concussions can be. They can cause long-term brain damage which is not good for young teens because that can impact their learning ability in school, and school is a big part of teens’ lives.

https://magazine.medlineplus.gov/article/how-concussions-affect-kids-and-teens states, “Research suggests that kids who have suffered a concussion may need more help at school and with sports as they recover.” 

This proves that kids who have had a concussion may need more help with school and sports as they recover. This shows that a concussion is serious – if students need more help with school that shows that the concussion really damages their brain and learning ability which is not good at all.

In my opinion, yes high school sports and the injuries you can get from playing them are bad and often not worth the risk, but I also still play my sports. Even though I don’t think it is always worth the risk, because without my sports I would be lost.

I love playing sports. Don’t get me wrong, every time I get hurt the thought of quitting does come to my head. I just can’t bring myself to do it because I have no idea what I would do without sports. Sports are my safe place. They help me get my mind off of all the bad things happening in my life.