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The Piedmont Highlander

The Piedmont Highlander

Football players plagued by injuries

The quarterback catches the snap. The defense is pressuring heavily. He remembers the play and turns for the hand-off  Instant pain comes through his left hand and immediately this quarterback is out with a pinky sprain. His hand is casted but he won’t let his team down so he wraps his arm into a “club” and plays through it.

Injuries plague all players no matter what sport. In the game of football there is immense pressure to play through injuries though, even with the risk of being out for the rest of the season a player wants to help his team said varsity quarterback junior Spencer Kim.

Varsity player junior Michael Tam said that he would much rather play especially through an injury because he loves football and doesn’t want to feel like he let his team down.

“I love playing football so I’m willing to take the risk of being injured in order to play,” Tam said. “I wouldn’t want to let them down and sit out a game”

Tam also stresses the care that the coaches take to make sure players do not get injured during practices as most injures happen during games.

“The coaches do a good job of making sure we don’t go all out during practice to avoid injury, they let you sit out if you are remotely injured,” Tam said.

Players are constantly plagued with the decision to play on an injury or not as it may become more severe and affect them in the future.

“Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether or not the injury you are playing on is really dangerous,” said varsity player senior Kyle Dalton. “It’s acceptable to play on a slightly sprained ankle but there are some injuries that are so bad that you should not be playing on it and it gets very controversial.”

Varsity player senior Gavin Moscone said that the team’s success is due to their great defense and the trust that every player has in each other.

The coach has allowed players like senior Andy Slabaugh to take more responsibility and help Kim out while he was playing injured.

“Yes, my coach does not want me to risk further injury, so a lot of responsibility is put on others like Andy Slabaugh. He really stepped up while I was injured,” Kim said.

Dalton said that Coach Anderson is another one of the many parts of why this team is so successful even with injured players.

“Coach Kev does a great job of coaching us up and preparing us so we can play to our max potential even without our key players,” Dalton said.

Kim said that the team has learned to depend on each other even when crucial players are out with injuries.

“Through all these injuries we have learned that winning is not dependent on one or two players. It is a team effort,” he said.

Moscone has played through injuries before and felt that his senior year was a perfect excuse to play though his shoulder injury.

“I missed all of last year with my shoulder surgery so since it’s my senior year I wrapped up my cast and played with it” Moscone said. “I felt invincible with it on.”

The rules surrounding casts are used to protect the other players as well as the one who is injured.

“You have to pad it on every area and there cannot be any sharp edges on it” Moscone said.

Injuries can limit mobility, but the player must choose whether or not they will play with it because of their responsibility to their teammates.

“Playing with a cast is hard, but not impossible. I have to play if I am able because I have a responsibility to my team,” Kim said.

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