In high school sports, student-athletes often push their bodies to the limit, striving to get better and improve themselves. Behind their best and worst performances lie risks of injuries.

Throughout the fall season, some athletes have been unfortunate enough to get injured from a variety of causes. Injuries make players doubt their performance and cause them to overthink their full potential.

“[I’m] just getting in my head because I don’t want to get injured again,” Senior Ryder Mapes said.

A major aspect of injuries from a sport is the mental and physical impact it has on students. Being injured and not able to play a sport, while watching other teammates succeed, is disappointing. Athletes live in fear of hurting themselves again, and often can’t show their full potential because they live in that fear. Being injured comes with a lot of resting and recovering.

“After the recovery, I’m sure I’ll be back,” freshman Grady Hershberger said.

Some athletes are expected to gain all of their strength back, but others aren’t confident in their comeback. It’s important to rest and follow the doctor’s instructions. Although it’s difficult to trust the process, doing something opposite to the instructed rules can lead to permanent damage.

“ I didn’t think it would ever be back to how it used to be, but as I got back into volleyball before I hurt my foot, it started to become more normal for me,” junior Pozzi Krehbiel said.

Krehbiel has had a rough past year with injuries. She first tore her ACL during powderpuff football last year. She then tore a ligament in her foot this volleyball season, and she has had to learn how to adapt to these changes and hardships. She got the strength to get back into volleyball, but shortly after injured herself again.

“I think you don’t really realize how much it affects you as a person and a player, until it happens to you,” Krehbiel said.