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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."


      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."


      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.


      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."


      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."

Gallery

Sports

Some high school athletes choose between playing with pain or sitting it out, and
those decisions can affect an athlete's long-term health and well
being.

Student athletes talk about the pain of the game

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