As an athlete I think it is safe to say that every athlete’s worse nightmare is an injury that will hinder or end their sports career. This is a thought that will always be in the back of an athlete’s mind before the start of every game, race, meet, match, etc. The real struggle with this is when this nightmare becomes a reality.

Participating in a sport you love is a feeling that can’t be replicated very easily. The feeling of being successful as an athlete becomes addicting, you dedicate years and years to becoming the best athlete you can be, going in early in the morning for conditioning or lifting, spending hours at practice, and going to games, practicing in the off season, all for the sport you love. Athletes work hard for their success and when they achieve it, that blissful feeling is all they strive for. When injuries happen, this can all be taken away in an instant.

Every coach will tell you injuries happen, and everyone knows not every injury will be career ending. For athlete’s who have experienced an injury like this they will tell you how devastating it is. Going through a surgery, or months and months of physical therapy or both, and then being unable to perform the sport you love is a tough situation for anyone involved.

I was one of those athletes that experienced an injury that hindered my career, and eventually ended my career. It was a nightmare that came true, the surgery, the physical therapy, all the different braces they made me wear, it was torture. It never healed the same after that injury.

Recently however I have discovered a new way to continue my love for being an athlete, and fulfilling my competitive drive, and that is coaching. I always dreamt of being a coach when I was growing up, but I always thought it would be after I finishing competing at a collegiate level. I never thought my athletic career would end so soon.

Although the sport I’m coaching now isn’t my favorite sport, it does help me come to terms with my injury. It gives a justification for my injury, even though my career came to an end, I get to help these athletes continue their career. Being able to help these younger athletes makes all the pain from my injury worth it, even though it ended my years of competing.