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Lorenzo Luna

Dr. Sharity Nelson

ENGL 1302-223

8 March 2024

The Price of the Game

Every year there are thousands of sporting events taking place ranging from the youth to

the absolute best in the world. Through the long and rigorous seasons also come injuries across

all levels of the game that thousands of people huddle together to watch. The saying “injuries are

apart of the game” stem from this and it without a doubt is true. To combat this, leagues have

introduced different protocols and technologies to help reduce the risk of injury and or re-injury.

These professional athletes often played the game as a kid and have obtained injuries throughout

their lives, so this should be the norm, but who is to say this hasn’t been a lingering effect

throughout their whole lives? Researchers have actually concluded that youth that participate in

contact sports often have higher health risks and often higher probability of re-injury. In the long

run, is the youth participating in contact sports at a young age actually worth potential long term

health effects?

Scholars have concluded that the risk of SRC is significantly higher in contact sports over

non-contact sports (681). A contact sport ranges from football, basketball, hockey, rugby, or any

sport in which direct contact between two participants is needed for the game to advance (681).

Bretzin, et al. concluded that men have a significantly higher rate in participation in contact

sports as compared to women. Backing up this claim, Musko and Demetriades also concluded a

similar research saying that men are still suffering higher SRC rates despite women participating
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more and more in contact sports with the new day and age (1). This in return leads to higher

SRC rates in men compared to women (681).

While there is often the physical pain endured in these injuries, also comes the mental

aspect. Walker et al. concluded that there are often two effects of the mental side being the actual

injury suffered, but that mental aspect that athletes don't often shake off immediately after

recovery (1). Depression is often a symptom after recovering from SRC as the athlete can

sometimes feel it’s a setback in their everyday life and that their inability to bounce back lingers

on (2). This can often lead the athlete to take a step back and reconsider why they choose to

participate in said sport causing them to become depressed as previously stated (6). Bunt et al.

concluded a similar study and also concluded that the youth and adolescents have a tougher time

being resilient and often suffer depression and anxiety at higher rates post recovery period (685).

It is common throughout both studies that athletes are scarred mentally which can also affect

their love for the sport as well as their motivation to continue on with said sport.

Being able to recover from injuries properly is a process often overlooked and can have

negative effects on the human body. Rushing the recovery process after suffering an injury as

serious as SRC can be detrimental to the human body and affect the overall quality of life. While

it might not be noticeable now, down in life it can really take a toll on the body. The scholars

Beilder et al. came to a conclusion that the quicker access to healthcare can overall lead to faster

recovery times (685). Beiler et al, also noted that women the study was done on at the collegiate

level also had longer recovery times as opposed to men (686). The reason for this is unknown at

the moment, but it may be due to anatomical structures (686). Henke et al. started conducting a

study relating to therapy and blood circulation when an athlete is suffering from SRC. While it

wasn’t a big experiment it helped the patient recover faster than anticipated. It involved small
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therapeutic motions to help the patient relax which in return also lowered blood pressure (5). In

order to expand on future findings in this research more demographics and variables will be

introduced to determine if this can be a plausible method for a slightly faster recovery period for

the future (5).

The topic of SRC can be rather broad as it can affect individuals differently, but still must

be taken with utmost precaution. Gray et al. studies show that the quality of life after suffering

from SRC is often normal if proper procedures are put into place (3). However, the odds of

re-injury are really high and the fact of the matter is injuries are bound to happen again. If SRC

were to occur again, it is rather dangerous and can lead to future memory loss (4). With this

information enrolling youth into sports at this young of an age can be risky as their long term

health should be priority. Hardesty et al. also concluded a study that while concussions do

happen outside of sports, it can be seen as a normal human risk (5). Hardesty et al. also

concludes that enrolling kids into contact sports isn’t the problem as a concussion can always

occur at any moment (5). There can be more measures put into place to avoid the risk of injury,

but ultimately accidents do happen so it’s a matter of whether or not the risk is worth it.

Athletes pay a high price when playing the game they have loved since they were

children. Millions of people will tune in and root for their team often disregarding the fact that

they are human before athletes. With the ever growing advancements of technology and safety

protocols comes an increase of SRC diagnosis. While the quality of life post game is often

disregarded, it should be monitored more closely to ensure that health comes first. A parent

willing to enroll their kids into contact sports should carefully decide whether or not this is the

correct decision and ultimately decide if the potential lingering effects are worth it.
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Works Cited

Beilder, Erica, et al. “Going Beyond the State Law: Investigation of High School Sports-Related

Concussion Protocols.” The Journal of Athletic Training, vol. 57, no. 1, 2022, pp. 32-43.

EBSCO doi: 10.4085/1062-6050-0505.20.

Bretzin, C. Abigail, et al. “Clinical Recovery Timelines After Sport-Related Concussion in

Men’s and Women’s Collegiate Sports.” Journal of Athletic Training, vol. 57, no. 7,

pp. 678-687. EBSCO. doi: 10.4085/601-20

Bunt, C. Stephen, et al. “Resilience and recovery from sports related concussions in adolescents

and young adults.” Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology”, vol. 43, no.

7, 2021, pp. 1-13. EBSCO, https://doi.org/10.1080/13803395.2021.1990214

Gray, Haleigh, et al. “Quality-of-Life Outcomes in Individuals with a History of Sport-Related

Concussion and ACLReconstruction: A Pilot Study.” Journal of Sports Behavior, vol. 46,

no. 3, pp. 30-38. EBSCO. https://journalofsportbehavior.org/index.php/JSB/issue/view/18

Hardesty, Kelly, et al. “Treatment of non sports related concussions in adolescents following an

irritability algorithmic approach: a case series.” Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, vol.

38, no. 10, 2022, pp. 1570-1578. EBSCO.

https://doi.org/10.1080/09593985.2020.1855683

Henke, D. Ryan, et al. “Does Early Low-Intensity Aerobic Exercise Hasten Recovery in

Adolescents With Sport-Related Concussion?” Journal of Sports Rehabilitation, vol. 29,

no. 9, 2020, pp. 248-252. EBSCO https://doi.org/10.1123/jsr.2019-0070

Musko, Patryk, and Andreas K. Demetriades. “Are Sex Differences in Collegiate and High
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School Sports-Related Concussion Reflected in the Guidelines? A Scoping Review.”,

Brain Sciences, vol. 13, no. 1310, 2023, pp. 1-18. EBSCO,

https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13091310

Walker, Daniel, et al. “Developing a simple risk metric for the effect of sports-related concussion

and physical pain on mental health.” Plos One, vol. 18, no. 10, 2023, pp. 1-12. EBSCO

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292751