{"id":588,"date":"2017-04-25T19:22:50","date_gmt":"2017-04-25T19:22:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vpms1.humber.smartmanagedservers.com\/sweatspring2017\/?p=588"},"modified":"2022-11-30T19:54:55","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T19:54:55","slug":"down-but-not-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/down-but-not-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Down but not out"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY ERIAN AMOR DE LOS REYES<\/h3>\n

The final year. The final season. One last time for the athlete to make or break. Statistics aside the year can be full of gripping moments. One soccer season could hold ten matches for a team. Ten times an athlete takes to the field or court. Ten times to fight for a win. Ten chances to come toe to toe to possible injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just remember dropping and screaming in pain,\u201d says Ali Palmer.<\/p>\n

Injuries can turn any career upside down.<\/p>\n

Palmer was the sweeper for the women\u2019s soccer team at Sheridan for two years from 2013 – \u201815. Her position as the sweeper forces her mostly to defend her net by \u201csweeping away\u201d any moves that passes other defenders. Having played since the age of nine she was familiar with the balancing act of training, study and games.<\/p>\n

Her position of having to stifle skilled opposing attackers often leaves her susceptible to injury\u2014always hoping to come out on top.<\/p>\n

But in one of her ten routine match-ups, it all goes downhill in ten minutes. Her first match of her second season landed her in the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was supposed to be my last year of soccer at Sheridan and ten minutes into the game\u2014I just planted my foot and my knee gave out,\u201d says Palmer.<\/p>\n

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are common to physically demanding sports such as soccer, football and basketball. In addition, a greater number of men reported serious injury requiring significant medical treatment compared to women. According to a study done by Statistics Canada, playing or training for a sport by far outweighs other forms of activity that lead to an injury.<\/p>\n

When seconds felt like hours and time stood still, in one of Palmer\u2019s most fearful moments the Bruins first line of defence against athlete injuries came to the rescue. \u201cMy athletic therapist ran on the field right away and I think if she didn\u2019t then I would have gone into shock.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seneca Sting\u2019s award-winning athletic sports therapist, Steve Kopas, says each season will have injuries, and the degree of seriousness can differ greatly.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see a gambit of everything, from sprained ankles to concussions to fractures to dislocations\u2026 no one real injury trumps [other injuries],\u201d says Kopas.<\/p>\n

Having seen and catered to a number of injuries in his career, Kopas says that there is much more than the surface when it comes to a physical injury. \u201cI mean\u2014when you have an injury like an ACL injury, they\u2019re out for the season and often times\u2026. part of the next season as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I woke up the next day, my knee was three times its size,\u201d says Palmer. After several visits to the doctor that the Bruin\u2019s recommended she was soon on her way to the MRI. Palmer was then set to go to a surgeon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was crushed when it happened and coming back to play but still have a torn ACL I went to see a sport\u2019s psychiatrist\u2014cause it was very scary,\u201d says Palmer.<\/p>\n

For many athletes this marked the end of their sports career. It\u2019s more than just a hobby or a past time, more than meeting friends and playing alongside them, more than trainings and games. To Kopas, it is their identity on the line when they are unable to compete in their sport.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cYou take that away from an athlete that identifies themselves as being a basketball player or whatever\u2014and now they\u2019re unable to do that it takes a toll on them mentally\u2026 when they [athletes] do have stress or anxieties or anything like that, they play their sport\u2014now they can\u2019t,\u201d says Kopas.<\/p>\n

Keeping athletes interested and contributing to their sport is best for when athletes are no longer able to play for their team. However, for some it is too late. Kopas says their approach to athletes with injuries varies but some do fall through the cracks. \u201cEach person is different, some athletes don\u2019t want anything to do with the sport once they\u2019re injured. They don\u2019t want to be there because it\u2019s harder on them mentally showing up to practice and not being able to do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Palmer isn\u2019t one of those athletes. \u201cI was determined to come back and play one more year\u2026 I knew that was gonna be my last year of soccer and that\u2019s not how I wanted to go out,\u201d says Palmer.<\/p>\n

Palmer graduated from Sheridan\u2019s Early Childhood Education program during her season with the ACL injury. However, she came  <\/span>back to don the Bruin\u2019s jersey for one more year enrolling in the educational support program. With her on their side, the Bruins went on to win five out of their ten matches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI just remember dropping and screaming in pain,\u201d says Ali Palmer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,10,192],"tags":[87,57,56],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/IMG_0093.jpg",1155,770,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/IMG_0093-160x160.jpg",160,160,true],"medium":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/IMG_0093-640x427.jpg",640,427,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/IMG_0093-768x512.jpg",696,464,true],"large":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/IMG_0093.jpg",696,464,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/IMG_0093.jpg",1155,770,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/IMG_0093.jpg",1155,770,false],"td_150x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/IMG_0093-150x100.jpg",150,100,true],"td_218x150":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/IMG_0093-218x150.jpg",218,150,true],"td_300x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/IMG_0093-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"td_324x400":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/IMG_0093-324x400.jpg",324,400,true],"td_485x360":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/IMG_0093-485x360.jpg",485,360,true],"td_696x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/IMG_0093-696x464.jpg",696,464,true],"td_1068x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/IMG_0093-1068x712.jpg",1068,712,true],"td_1920x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/IMG_0093.jpg",1155,770,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"sweatmag","author_link":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/author\/sweatmag\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"\u201cI just remember dropping and screaming in pain,\u201d says Ali Palmer.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2400,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588\/revisions\/2400"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}