Why injury should never stop an athlete in their tracks
- Serious injury the biggest setback an athlete can face
- Onus on injured athletes to use time off productively
- Opportunities to develop a contingency plan for alternative career options
Playing sport is a physical act so the risk of injury comes with the territory. It’s not something you think of when you take the field, track or court but for the professional athlete it has a direct threat to your livelihood. Disaster can strike at any moment and it can happen in the fraction of a second. One reckless tackle or one mistimed step and your whole world can be turned upside down. Injury can affect progression or can grind an athlete to a halt. In the most tragic of circumstances there is simply no coming back.
Welsh international, Jack Collison, is the latest footballer to announce his retirement from the game. He has battled bravely against persistent knee problems for the past seven years but the time has finally come for him to concede defeat. At 27, he should be approaching his footballing prime but instead, he has to face up to a future that differs dramatically to one he envisioned. He was living his childhood dreams. Now the goalposts have well and truly been moved.
I was recently on the same coaching course as Collison and my heart goes out to him. It’s no surprise that there has been an outpouring of empathy from within the football fraternity. His reality is what every professional dreads to even imagine. People on the outside of the industry may not realise that injury is more than simple physical pain. It leaves both emotional and psychological scars and sometimes these are the very hardest to heal.
I’ve suffered my own injury heartbreak when I was a young professional at Crewe Alexandra. I ruptured my anterior cruciate ligament shortly after breaking into the first team set-up. One minute I was tasting life in the Championship and the next I’m lying in the dirt at Port Vale. Helpless and hopeless. The pain was horrific but even then my thoughts turned to my immediate and longterm prospects. Would I be able to recover? Or was this the end?
It was a devastating setback and I was inconsolable when a later scan revealed the extent of the damage. Despite this cruel twist of fate I DO COUNT MYSELF FORTUNATE because the door was not shut on my career. I was able to FIGHT MY WAY BACK to full fitness.
The gruelling nine month recovery presented some of the hardest challenges I’ve ever had to conquer but the REWARD for doing so was THE MAKING OF ME AS AN INDIVIDUAL. I learned the value of PERSEVERANCE and the significance of PATIENCE. In my darkest hour I grew an INNER STREGTH that has GUIDED the rest of my career. Rehabilitation is a journey of SELF-DISCOVERY and is as much about the person behind the athlete as the injury they are trying to overcome.
Perhaps it was my COMPETITIVE NATURE but whilst on the sidelines I made the decision to invest my time wisely to become more PRODUCTIVE in other areas of my life. I have always been PROACTIVE away from the pitch but my injury WOKE ME UP to the fact that I needed a contingency plan. That is what helped me to identify with the story of Collison because its clear he has done exactly the same.
He is studying towards the Sports Journalism degree that I also completed at Staffordshire University. The benefits to PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT cannot be underplayed and studying during my time out of the game was a wonderful outlet for me to channel my energy. Collison is already running a thriving soccer school and is intending to remain at his final club, Peterborough United, in a coaching capacity. Few would blame him if he had decided to turn his back on the game but instead he’s desperate to give something back. His PASSION to do so is something we can all learn from and admire.
Injury can rob an athlete of their prime and deprive the world of their talent but it cannot determine the CHARACTER or VALUES that an individual lives by. In his emotional farewell Collison wrote, “Although football has made me the man I am today it doesn’t define me and I am very optimistic about the future.”
He won’t let injury stop him in his tracks and neither should you.
Why injury should never stop an athlete in their tracks
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