The pain

Every athlete knows injuries are a perpetual occurrence, an inevitable part of playing sports. However, because athletes are tasked with working toward a goal at all times, they often have no choice but to sideline their pain.

“I’ve suffered through so many [injuries], I can’t even remember,” junior soccer player Joseph Bukassa said. “Starting from freshman year, I suffered a concussion, I had some hip pain, pulled hamstrings [and] a lot of pulled muscles. [It continued] into sophomore year. I had a concussion but I didn’t really know it was a concussion until now. I just thought it was normal. [Later], I learned about the symptoms of it and [now] I’m just like, ‘Wow, I had that,’ but I continued to play.”

Like Bukassa, countless student athletes have sustained years worth of injury and pain, but have either not received proper treatment or simply dealt with the reality that it is “a part of the game.” While it is a truth every athlete is acquainted with, another pain in particular is rarely discussed at the high school level: mental pain.

After a long day of practice, drills and lifting, athletes are left to deal with an unfamiliar aftermath. They sit in isolation, feeling completely detached from their teams as a result of their poor mental states. Sibounheuang recalls her first time experiencing mental issues during her freshman year, shortly after being selected for the varsity soccer team.

“Sports make you feel a spectrum of things, not just injury based,” Sibounheuang said. “My freshman year, this was a really hard environment to come into. I was forced to get out of my comfort zone. I felt so many moments of self-doubt and ‘Am I good enough?’ ‘Can I hang with these people?’ ‘Can I do what they’re asking me to do?’ There were a lot of points where I felt very mistreated. I was really close to quitting soccer [then].”