Her body aches in between the icing and the resting. She is healing from her severe elbow injury not knowing if it’s going to make her stronger or weaker in the end.

With a huge passion for sports- her 4 years of lacrosse, 8 years of gymnastics, and 2 years of cheer-  Vivian Isaacs has experienced a few injuries. 

“My most severe injury was OCD ( Osteochondritis) in my left elbow. It’s a disorder of articular cartilage and subchondral bone. I was in a cast for 9 months,” Isaacs said. 

Issacs sat on the sidelines to watch her teammates play, feeling sad about not getting to play for her team. 

“I was really upset. I would always go to practice and condition or do whatever I could do to be a team player. It was always hard because I couldn’t do anything,” Isaacs said. 

Constant support from her family pulled her through the hard times, even when feeling like there’s no return, helping her stay positive that she will play again. 

“My friends and family were always a great help to push me to keep moving,” Isaacs said.  

From the field to the floor, all athletes are affected by injuries of all sorts. The most common injuries in an athlete are sprains and strains, knee injuries, swollen muscles, Achilles tendinitis, and pain along the shin bone.

“One of the most common injuries we see in athletes would be lateral ankle sprain,” Athletic trainer Ron Smith said.  

 When athletes go and see the school trainer to get checked out, They get helpful exercises to ease the pain of the injury. 

“Generally they would do some sort of stretching exercise. [with] a knee injury we would do hamstring quadriceps stretch. An activation exercise such as quad sets, a core exercise such as side plank/leg raise,” Smith said

Smith enjoys helping the athletes that come to him for their injuries making sure they come back stronger than before. 

Bayleigh Kostkan in her 14th year involved in gymnastics experienced a lot more injuries than she thought but became stronger after each one. 

“My first injury was when I was 8. I had Achilles tendinitis. I ended up having it twice so it took a couple of days to completely go away and I had to stop training for a while and missed a couple of competitions,” Kostkan said. 

Kostkan fought through her first injury at a young age. She missed out on showing off her hard work to the judges, still keeping her head up as days went by.

“Injuries are a part of the sport. I knew that it was going to take a few injuries to get where I wanted to be. I ended up having a few more injuries than expected but gymnastics teaches determination and perseverance and how to push through adversity so I just kept going,” Kostkan said.

Continuing with the sport gives athletes a chance of injury no matter the skill. Kostkan still suffers from small and big injuries as she continues in her gymnastics career. 

“My injury last year has had the most impact on me and the first one was when I was really young so I didn’t understand as much. I tore 4 ligaments and had a major bone contusion in my right ankle,” Kostkan said. 

In Spite of the injury, she still has the opportunity to reach the goal she wanted and have a stronger outcome than before. 

“Obviously injuries aren’t ideal but they’re something that makes you stronger. The end goal can still be accomplished; you just may have to take a different way to get there. And you’ll be 10 times prouder of yourself when it’s over and you got through it,” Kostkan said