While playing a soccer match during the fall of last year, senior center-back Utah Hester was stationed to clear the ball with a header but collided with the goalkeeper, hitting his head in the process.
Hester mentioned that throughout the game he did not feel any abnormalities; however, on his way back to school, he started to feel light-headed and was immediately taken to a nearby urgent care facility by his teammates and coach. Upon Hester’s checkup, he was ruled with a serious concussion — its impact took a toll on his lifestyle.
Navigating through concussions as an athlete has become common in the realm of high school sports. Despite advancements in health and safety technology, its impact on student-athletes can negatively impact their careers.
According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the impacts of a concussion can severely alter an athlete’s lifestyle until they have fully recovered. Hester had to adhere to several instructions given by his doctor — a few being reducing screen time and refraining from physical activity.
“I didn’t even feel like the same person … you just have to be reliant on other people for everything because you’re not supposed to be moving around — not doing much,” Hester said. “… [When] I thought I would feel okay for half a day, and if I tried to do anything over my limit, it just immediately would send me back to where I was.”
Coping with concussions can be tough for some student-athletes where academics and post-concussion symptoms conflict with each other. When sophomore Lillian Hethcoat got a concussion while playing softball during November last year, her symptoms of chronic migraines and difficulty recalling memories made it hard for her to focus on her academics.
“I missed over a week of school in the first place, and I had to come back and make that up at the very end of the semester. I was trying to make all this work up with all of these symptoms that don’t really go away that quickly,” Hethcoat said.
Moreover, junior varsity soccer coach Daniel Schoettmer emphasized the psychological load on an athlete after sustaining an injury or a concussion. He said returning back to playing after such events can be challenging and can take a toll on an athlete’s mental health.
“There is sometimes that back of your head fear of: ‘man, when I am in that situation again, or kick the ball that way or head the ball, could it happen again?’ … That’s more of like the mental return to the play-piece, but it’s hard to like to sit out,” Schoettmer said.
Schoettmer describes taking care of health as the pinnacle of balancing between physical, mental and social life in order to be successful as an athlete. He sees his role as a coach to raise that awareness amongst his athletes to take care of it.
“When we think about sports or athletics, we think about physical health and physical fitness, but I’m thankful that with coaches, research — and even if you’re on Instagram — you see more of a holistic focus on athlete health,” Schoettmer said.
Encouraging his player’s to be aware of their health and not over-do is one of Schoettmer’s goals. Similarly, research conducted by UCLA health stated that overdoing is the common reason why athletes tend to be injured. Both Hester and Schoettmer inferred the importance of knowing what your capabilities are as an athlete despite the struggle in deciding where to draw that line of limit.
“You’re really encouraging them [athletes] to really listen to their bodies, and so to feel our bodies are constantly giving us cues or red flags, if you know something’s wrong,” Schoettmer said.
