When you’re practicing a sport and you overwork your body, you may get injuries that could be very severe. For example, being on a lot of teams could be a factor for injuries. Or not resting your body enough. Some of those injuries may include shin splints, or soft tissue injuries and sometimes just pain in your joints. Practicing or working hard doesn’t mean overworking. Overworking is not giving your body the right recovery process.
We asked Ellis Masotti how being on a lot of sports teams can affect academic and daily life. Ellis is in seventh grade and is twelve years old in Landrum Middle School. Ellis is on three teams for golf and soccer. We asked Ellis how being on so many teams affect’s his life academically and preparing for the next practice or game. He said, “It doesn’t affect me too much academically but at home I have to stretch a lot and get ready for my next practice or game.”
A big part of getting over an injury is the right recovery process and resting enough. Ellis has had surgery on his appendix and told us his recovery took a long time. He said,” It took a long time and a lot of pain, but when I was off recovery my body felt 100%.” Resting is the most important part of getting over an injury. Resting recovers your wounds and strengthens your body. Resting is the most boring and hardest part of recovering because you want to get back up, but you must wait. Patience is key. You don’t want to get yourself into more injuries.
“Support is a key in recovering,” said Ellis. “My parents and my coach helped a lot. Without them, I don’t think I could’ve done it. They would remind me of icing and stretching.”