“Ouch!” After being hurt in a game, you are one of two million high school students to get injured this year nationwide. After being injured some athletes may be out anywhere from one game to the rest of the season. When you play sports that involve being tackled to the ground, being hit with sticks, and balls flying at speeds up to 90 MPH, injuries are destined to happen. Zephyrus is here to highlight typical injuries and dangers of hockey, lacrosse, gymnastics, cheerleading, football, and wrestling.

Hockey

December 30th, Jack Jablonski was paralyzed. As his mom went down on the ice. Jack said, “Mom, I can’t move.” Injuries happen in sports, but hockey injuries seem to occur more often than they should. High speeds, hard ice, and stiff boards surrounding the rink are the perfect combination for a rough sport.

Injuries among teens between the ages of fifteen and eighteen have increased by 85% in the past twenty years, an alarming increase, according to Sportsinjuries.com. The site reported that injuries occur in the later periods and in the later minutes of each period; studies recorded 42% of injuries were sustained during the third period and 47% of injuries were sustained in the final five minutes of each period. The most common injury is a concussion, followed by shoulder, and knee misplacements.

New rules for hockey went into effect mid-January. Any head contact, boarding, or checking from behind will now be a five minute penalty, instead of the two minute it used to be. This new rule was introduced in hopes that it would give players an incentive to avoid dangerous checks. These rules were implemented very quickly, with little discussion, in reaction to Jablonski’s injury. The hockey community is trying to make dramatic changes as soon as possible, so injuries like Jablonki’s never happen again.

Lacrosse

Lacrosse is considered to beAmerica’s first sport, having originally been played by Native Americans. What many may not know is that it can be a dangerous sport. According to Summer Banks, a medical assistant, lacrosse is one of the five most dangerous high school sports. Lacrosse balls can be thrown, she explained, at speeds close to 110 MPH. In fact, since 1980, nineteen lacrosse players have died from cardiac arrest after having been hit by a ball. While this is an extreme example, lacrosse does have other dangers.

According to The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s (UPMC) Sports Medicine Clinic, some of the most common injuries in lacrosse include strains and sprains, bruises, rib fractures, and concussions.

“The most dangerous part of girls’ lacrosse is probably the checking if done incorrectly, and making cuts and defending in the eight meter [an eight-meter arc by the goal] can sometimes be harsh on the knees and ligaments,” said Sophomore Sheila Hirsch, who has played lacrosse for five years.

According to The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s (UPMC) Sports Medicine Clinic, some of the most common injuries in lacrosse include strains and sprains, bruises, rib fractures and concussions.

“There are probably about four to five injuries in our season,” said Hirsch. “The most common,” she said, “are probably stress fractures, torn ACL’s, and pulled ligaments.”

CJ Klein, a sophomore who has played lacrosse since sixth grade said, “Some common injuries in lacrosse are small cuts and bruises on  arms or legs.” These, he said are “more common from an offensive perspective; defense does most of the hitting.”  He added, “Some dangerous parts of lacrosse are blind hits, cross checks, and basically just getting hacked by your opponents.”

UPMC Sports Medicine suggested that “before you start training, discuss which position you will be playing in order to properly prepare for the season.” Officials at the clinic emphasized that it is important to train during the off-season to be ready for the demands of a lacrosse season.

Cheerleading

When people think about cheerleading, they think about peppy girls, extraordinary stunts, and energetic school spirit. However, cheerleading isn’t all smiles. Some people consider it to be the most dangerous high school sport.

According to senior captain Maggie Wyatt the most common injuries are knee problems, broken fingers, and ankle injuries.

While these injuries can be serious, Wyatt said “We don’t really sit out because it’s an intense team sport and we need everyone.”

Junior Elin Wahman has seen a few people sit out for “pulled hamstrings because they cannot jump or tumble.” Wyatt added that a person would be forced to sit out if she “was in a cast or rendered unable to stunt.”

Overall, with cheerleading being such a team sport, injuries will not keep them down because as Wahman stated, “Everyone on the team has an important part, and the routine cannot go without that one person there.”

Football and Wrestling

ery sport has a plethora of accidents that lead to injuries, but some are known to be more dangerous than others. According to the Center for Injury Research and Policy, football and wrestling are known as having the highest risk of serious injury to young athletes.

There is another source that doesn’t support that, however, according to the website The Top Tens, football is the seventh most dangerous sport, and wrestling does not even make the list. It was ranked as a contender, coming in 11th.

At EHS, football and wrestling share a fair amount of injuries and the focus is on getting better not discussing which sport is more dangerous.

The most common wrestling injuries, according to sportsmedicine.com, include bruises/contusions, sprains/strains, overtraining syndrome, dehydration, and muscle soreness, while the more serious involve the shoulders, neck, and knees. Tschida, the EHS athletic trainer, doesn’t work directly with the wrestling team, as they train in Richfield, but he has heard they most commonly suffer from “skin infections, thumb sprains, and foot sprains.”

The most common football injuries, coming from the same source, includes general sprains and strains, achilles tendonitis, concussion, shoulder dislocation and much more. Tschida agreed with all of the following and added more, “soft tissue and bone contusions, and various hamstring injuries.”

Although the number of football injuries at EHS outweighs the number of wrestling injuries, Tschida said this is “mainly due to the number of participants.” Both sports are dangerous, even though EHS seems to target football players more.

Any athletic activity, including football and wrestling, has its own variety and seriousness of injuries, so be aware of the risks of your sport.

Gymnastics

though gymnastics is entertaining to watch, many injuries are possible during the incredible routines. The routines can be wonderful and spectacular to watch but, they can cause serious problems with just one wrong step.

According to junior Taylor Halling, the most common gymnastics injuries are shin splints. Halling explained that “gymnastics is really hard on your ankles.”

Lower back injuries including muscle pains and aches are also common. In some cases the injuries may cause gymnasts to sit out and rehabilitate their bodies before returning to their grueling practices.

Thousands of high school students are sent to the hospital for serious gymnastics injuries including, concussions, broken arms and legs, and possible severe spine injuries and broken necks each year.