According to www.stopsportsinjuries.org, High School athletes are involved in an estimated 2 million injuries per year, while children younger than 14 years old are involved in more than 3.5 million injuries per year.  Many people wonder if the harm caused by sports are worth it.

Children grow up learning to love sports by watching them on television or through their parents placing them on the local sports team. The participation in sports is extremely high, influencing kids to love them. Most students have come to use them as a stress reliever while others use it for entertainment. Ashley Riter, a goalie on the girls varsity soccer team at Pentucket states, “Sports are a stress reliever.” For her, as well as many others, sports are taken very seriously. Athletics have helped shape Riter and many other student’s personalities, so it would be devastating to not let them play.

The benefits that come with sports are important for one’s health both physically and mentally. A person’s weight and fitness are positively affected and improved when students participate in physically activity. The strict rules schools have against substance use influences athletes- which make up 55.5% of high school students- to avoid drinking and using drugs. Teamwork and determination universally taught and discussed among teams, influences athletes work ethic in a positive way.

Although sports do bring many benefits to student athletes, they also have many drawbacks. Sports create such high risk of injuries, that parents have started to remove their children from contact sports at young ages. Www.stanfordchildrens.org found that more than 775,000 children, ages 14 and younger, are treated in hospital emergency rooms each year due to sports-related injuries.

In both contact and non-contact sports, the injury rates are increasing yearly. At Pentucket alone, there have been more than 17 concussions,  approximately 9 sprained ankles, 8 shin splints, 5 knee-related injuries, and two broken noses’ so far this school year.  One student recalls being knocked unconscious in her field hockey game and having to receive stitches above her lip while acquiring a black eye and concussion.

The long term affects that injuries can have on athletes are incredibly threatening, with most professional athletes retiring at young ages to preserve their health. Mrs. Lukianov states a previous student she taught had such a dangerous number of concussions that if she had one more, then she would possibly die.

According to www.protectthebrain.org, an estimated 1.6-3.8 million sports-related concussions occur each year in the Unites States alone. This greatly increases the risk for many diseases, such as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.

One should receive immediate attention when he becomes injured, although many students do not. Most try to “brush it off” due to the love for their sport, and not wanting to take the break their body may need to heal. If one does not take time to rest and protect their body throughout the sports season, then they are at higher risk of developing an overuse injury.

Sports create many benefits for students, but they also create damage to one’s body if one does not take the correct precautions. So, when does one develop too many injuries?  When is it enough? Ask yourself, is it worth it?