Student athletes talk about the pain of the game

Zach Tinaglia was in pain. The Faribault High School basketball forward had sprained his ankle. Twice. But he was determined to play since it was his senior year.

"I thought maybe if I played on it, I'd keep getting hurt over and over and my ankle would never recover," Tinaglia said. "That's when the thought of my senior year came in."

Tinaglia played through the pain again, and suffered another setback. This time it was a high-ankle sprain and was more severe. Athletes choose between playing with pain or sitting it out, and those decisions can affect an athlete's long-term health and well being.

The Big 9 Conference amended its policy handbook in April to ensure athletic trainers have the final say about when an athlete returns to competition. This change was fueled by an incident involving an athlete whose parent challenged a trainer's decision not to let the athlete re-enter a game.

Athletes, parents and coaches often struggle with a decision about if an athlete should sit or play. Knowing when an athlete is ready to come back physically and mentally is the trainer's responsibility.

But the pressure to compete often gets in the way of these decisions.

"Parents and coaches think their kid is going to be the next professional athlete," said Dr. Clinton Muench, an orthopedic surgeon at The Orthopaedic & Fracture Clinic in Faribault.

"At certain institutions in this town, that may be true. But for the rest of us, it's probably not going to be true or is very unlikely to happen. So spending all of these hours pounding your body for that may not be beneficial."

RESTING VS. LETTING THE TEAM DOWN

After years of competing, sitting on the sideline doesn't come natural.

"They don't want to miss time," said Ed Friesen, Bethlehem Academy athletic director. "So if they're under the weather, they're probably going to still try and go if they think they can. That does create some tough situations."

Tinaglia said he felt the pressure to get back onto the court because, as a pivotal member of the Falcons' team, he felt like he would let his teammates down if he sat on the bench.

"I know the players wanted me back out there," he said.

That pressure to return doesn't just stem from on-the-field injuries.

FHS senior Alicia Gillen fought through a severe upset stomach while competing for the Emeralds danceline team at the Big 9 Championships.

The Emeralds won, but she ended the night at the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. The doctor told her if her appendix had burst during competition, it could have been fatal.

Gillen's parents said they checked her symptoms with the District One Hospital Emergency Room the night before the meet, and it was presumed she had the flu. Given the circumstances, she said she couldn't let her team down, despite her discomfort throughout the competition.

"It was basically my senior year; it's my last chance," Gillen said. "In dance, you only have those four minutes. You can't go back and redo it."

Emeralds coach Lois Krinke said she's never seen such a severe case of playing through pain in her 19 years of coaching.

"It's hard as a coach to know when to draw the line," Krinke said. "You don't like to see your senior sad. It's her last time out. You have empathy for them as well."

Gillen spent a week recovering and slowly rejoining the Emeralds. Her mission was to dance at the Section 1AAA meet two weeks later. She recovered in time to help Faribault earn a state berth.

Today, Gillen's mom, Becky, can't believe her daughter withstood what she did to help the team win.

"We've talked about it," Becky Gillen said. "I just tell her I can't believe she did that. She says, 'I know."'

Athletes like Gillen and FHS alum Alex Larson felt pressure to return.

Larson missed six weeks of the Falcons' hockey season during his junior year in 2008. He was struck in the chest with a puck and his heart stopped beating briefly on the ice before being revived.

Despite knowing his teammates understood why he was sitting out - and knowing it was in his best interest to do so - he said he was anxious to come back.

"I wanted to play the minute I got out of the hospital," Larson said. "I couldn't do anything but sit on the bench and watch. I'm sure it's that way with other athletes, too. They want to get back as fast as they can."

WHEN TO RETURN

Part of returning to competition is being psychologically ready.

Matt Ryan, Kenyon-Wanamingo wrestling coach, said sometimes the coaching staff needs to help guide the athlete past the question of whether or not the injury is fully healed, and if they might get re-injured.

This was the case with senior wrestler Chad Lexvold, who suffered a concussion and a broken hand in separate instances early in 2010. Ryan said Lexvold wasn't sure if his hand would be strong enough to endure a wrestling match.

"That's usually the last thing that gets better is the confidence to return to your sport," Muench said. "I think the physical part is way more important ... but the last part of it to get better before you feel like you're back 100 percent is your confidence."

Ryan said a little nudging from the coaching staff pushed Lexvold back on the mat - first practice and then into dual meets.

Once he returned, his confidence continued to grow. Lexvold eventually took second at 125 pounds in the Class A state wrestling tournament.

"I think he would tell you he's glad I pushed him back into it," Ryan said. "He needed to get back out there again and get over that mental hurdle. That can be a big part of it."

Ryan said athletes respond to injury differently. A certain injury may sideline one athlete for a week, while a different individual might not miss any time.

"I think that's just where you've got to know your kids and try to help them through obviously the physical side of things but also the mental side of things," Ryan said.

OPTING TO SIT ONE OUT

FHS senior Cole Wilson had a choice to make.

Wilson qualified for the senior nationals in Virginia Beach, Va., after placing second in the Minnesota Class AAA state heavyweight tournament.

But shortly before heading to Virginia in March, Wilson suffered a separated shoulder at the Mental Aerobics Tournament in Rochester.

Coach Jesse Armbruster said Wilson had committed to play football at Southwest Minnesota State University in the fall and didn't want to jeopardize his future.

"He really wanted to go down there," Armbruster said. "The risk well outweighed any kind of glory we were going to get from that tournament. He signed a letter of intent to play football. He's got to do his part to make sure he's ready for those coaches."

Wilson's season with FHS was over when the injury occurred, making the decision easier. But in the thick of a high school season, sitting out isn't always an athlete's top choice.

Steve Lansing, FHS boys basketball coach, said athletes nursing injuries - like Wilson - often do just the opposite.

"The biggest thing with that is the kids want to get back so quickly that they never rehabilitate enough and it never gets as strong as it once was," Lansing said. "That's a major thing."

MAKING THE TOUGH CALL

Wendie Battist-Schoeb, Shattuck-St. Mary's director of athletic training, sees joint injuries, ankle injuries and concussions all the time.

SSM, a preparatory school in Faribault, has a pedigree of excellence. Seven of its alumni received a silver or gold medal in hockey at the 2010 Olympic Games, and this year the school sent more soccer players to Division I colleges than any other school in the U.S., according to ESPN.com.

The Sabres she treats don't like to miss action.

"Every athlete wants to get back for the next game - that's in their DNA," she said.

Still, Battist-Schoeb's job is to work with athletes and let them know when it's safe to get back to the action.

"If I had a magic pill that would get them to come back the next day, they'd all take it," she said. "They're smart about it, and they're motivated. These are probably the most motivated athletes who come in and do their rehab and do their daily programs to get back."

Walking that line is difficult. Almost two months after Tinaglia's injury, he still feels discomfort in his ankle. "There's still pain on it," he said. "I'm playing tennis right now, and it still hurts."

Sometimes, it's the time away from competition that makes the difference. But sitting and watching the team perform from the bench is perhaps the toughest thing an athlete must do.

"I've never had to do it before; pull myself out," Gillen said. "I would imagine it would be very difficult. I have been dancing since fourth grade, and it's my senior year. This is my last chance to succeed in all the goals we've had. It would basically forfeit the win for my team."

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Information from: Faribault Daily News

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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