Are Minor Injuries Really that Minor?

I don’t like the statement minor injury. In sports there really are no minor injuries, even the smallest thing can keep you out of the game for some amount of time. When I was in my grade twelve year of basketball I found this out. It was about three years ago now and I can still remember having to sit out of half of the game because of my ‘minor injury’. I mean sure it wasn’t like I had to be rushed to the hospital or anything but it was still something that affected me long after the incident.

By now I’m sure you are all wondering what happened so here it is. These are two pictures of me right after the game. I got a black eye!

By the time I was able to get pictures the swelling had gone down and I could finally open my eye again, although it was only with a lot of difficulty that it would open. I couldn’t believe that after what seemed to me as a minor injury I had to wear an eye patch to school and sit out of the game I loved to play for two whole games to avoid over stimulation to the eye socket!

How did this happen you ask? It was all from a cheap elbow behind the refs back! The girl that hit me held a grudge from the last game when we beat them by one point because I sunk a three pointer in the last 30 seconds. I guess all she wanted was me out of the game for a while and that’s what she got. I could tell that she must have had this planned because throughout the game she was following me around the court tripping me, slapping me, scratching me, and literally doing anything she could to get under my skin. In fact I have proof of these injuries as well.

Scratch Mark

Handprint of a slap

Let’s just say this was a rough game full of cheap shots. But little did this other girl know that this one elbow to the eye could have been the end of my vision as it was. I know that she did not mean to injure me badly but I know for a fact she targeted me. This is dangerous and unsportsmanlike. After having to wear an eye patch and ice my eye as often as possible to keep the swelling down I decided that I would no longer look at this injury as a minor injury anymore. In my point of view anything that keeps you down for longer than one game is just an injury! Not minor or major, just a sports injury. Anything can be dangerous for an athlete so that is why all players should play with the upmost respect for one another and not intentionally take players out. Although this experience did teach me the importance of depth perception in life, let’s just say I ran into several things for a few weeks. ;)