So many high school athletes are injured, primarily girls and it is usually their knee. There are many different types of knee injuries ranging from dislocating it, all the way to needing surgery. Most knee surgeries will keep you out of sports for 6 months to a year. This happened to many people that I know as well as me, but what this experience has taught me is that you can get more out of this than you may think.

 A knee injury that is very common in high school girl athletes is tearing your ACL, but one that is way less common is something called your MPFL, your MPFL is a main ligament that is connected to your knee cap and holds it in place. The injury that usually goes along with tearing your MPFL is dislocating your knee multiple times. 

This is the injury that had happened to me this year. In eighth grade I dislocated my kneecap after playing soccer all day, this happened because my muscles were tired and not ready for different types of movements that forced my knee out. About two weeks after this had happened I was walking and it popped out again. I was out of sports for about 3 months, while continuing [physical therapy. I have been playing soccer for the last four years and I had not run into this issue anymore, until December. I was playing a soccer game and when I stuck my leg out in just the right way the ball hit it and knocked my knee cap out of place. This time when we went to visit the doctor he ordered an MRI. This showed that I had torn my MPFL as well as breaking off cartilage in my knee. The doctor strongly recommended surgery, which happened on January 2nd. Since my surgery I have been going to physical therapy three times a week. 

While being an injured athlete in high school especially your senior you can actually take the time to become better at your sport. People may never realize it but when you’re just sitting on the bench you are learning more about the sport through a different perspective than you would be if you were playing the whole game. Another reason that this may help someone prepare for the future is when you get cleared to run, take advantage of the opportunity and you will be in better shape than before.

So although an injury putting you out your senior season may seem like the worst thing that could happen to you, it’s not. You need to look at it from a different perspective and find a way to make the most of what is happening to you. You always hear people saying that they come back just as good or better after a severe injury, but this will only be true if you put in the work.