Toes, shoulders, ankles, ACL’s – what do all of these have in common? The KO community has seen all of these injuries and more this 2021-2022 school year.
In a school of athletes, injuries are prone to happen, although the average numbers can vary. “It all depends, on what games are going on, it depends on what practices there are, it depends on if we see kids who get injured outside of school,” said Julie Richardson, one of KO’s resident athletic trainers.
One of KO middle school’s most well known injuries was that of former eighth grade quarterback Nolan Pendergast’s injured shoulder. During a rivalry football game against Hopkins, Pendergast was hit, causing him to fall down. Naturally, he put his arm out to break the fall, and in doing so felt something in his shoulder pop out and then back in.
“So I subluxed my shoulder, which is basically when your shoulder starts to leave your socket, and it does, it fully leaves your socket, or like, it gets on the edge there and then pops right back in, so it’s like in and out, and you feel a clicking when you move your arm up and down and stuff,” Pendergast said.
KO seventh grader Adrianna Cicchiello has also experienced shoulder issues this year. She was injured playing softball over the summer, resulting in no sports for four months. “I had overuse to my shoulder from playing four days a week,” said Cicchiello. The injury required two months of rest before starting physical therapy.
This time off has taken a toll on Cicchiello’s game play and confidence. “While my teammates were getting better with their arm strength, I had to sit out and work on other stuff, so now that I’m back in sports my arm strength is below average and I need to catch up on it now,” she said.
Shoulders haven’t been the only injuries the middle school has experienced this year. Eighth grader Lily Margolis is currently suffering from a sprained ACL and three bruised connectors from a skiing accident. “Right now, I’m in a knee brace with crutches so I can’t bend my knee. I have to sleep with it on,” she said.
Margolis is determined to stay positive throughout her struggles. “Obviously it’s restraining, so I can do very little physical activity, as well as just being hard to maneuver. It’s been hard. It’s definitely been a change, and I have to adapt to the new lifestyle of not being able to really bend or move my left leg. It’s definitely a challenge,” she said.
Even though the middle school has suffered from injuries of all type, including Eighth grader Drew Dargati’s toe injury earlier in the year, the school is determined to stay strong. As for precautions, Julie Richardson suggests proper warmup, cooldown, hydration, conditioning, and nutrition throughout the year.
