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Dealing With Injuries In High School

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This resource is from a case study in Jim Thompson’s book, The High School Sports Parent.

Ouch! Dealing With Injuries: Your soccer-playing daughter has joined the walking wounded. She has played soccer pretty much year-round for the past several years, alternating high school and club teams. She was injured again recently, and the doctor says it will be weeks before she can play again. As a Second-Goal Parent®, what can you do to help your daughter?

There are two tricky issues embedded in this situation. Let’s unpack them.

First, understand that way too many young athletes are experiencing repetitive stress injuries from overuse. The drive to improve, to be great, to please one or more coaches, or to attract attention from college scouts can result in an out-of-control situation with severe physical consequences for high school athletes at a time when they are already vulnerable because of rapid growth.

It is not reasonable to expect a teenage athlete to have the long-term perspective of an adult. Most athletes will almost always say they want to play more rather than less. For athletes with a highly evolved sense of competitiveness, it may seem a sign of weakness to admit they are hurting. That’s where parents come in. You may have to act as a governor on your athlete’s desire to compete.

Next is helping your daughter cope with being out of competition for an extended period of time.

To read the full response, including other ways to help your child overcome injuries, download the book excerpt found below. Learn how you can help your child have the strength not to play when she is hurt.

To purchase the entire book The High School Sports Parent, and to learn more about other PCA books, click here.

These books are used in PCA’s live workshops. To learn more about our interactive sports parent workshops, click here.

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