Multimedia Feature

Dylan Brehm 

SPT-4006

Dr. Hayes

4/12/23

Multimedia Feature

There are few things more harrowing for an athlete of any level then spending time on the sidelines. There can be plenty of reasons for this but that doesn't get rid of the gut punch of watching your teammates succeed on the field. You want nothing more than to join them and this takes a hefty toll. Some take this role better than others, or even worse family members get involved and things get out of hand.

For most athletes this is something they've experienced at some point regardless of it being a middle soccer player, or a Super Bowl winning quarterback. It's an in-avoidable part of team sports and and every team is going to have fringe players and bench warmers. In some cases this is a spot reserved for a future prospect getting a taste of a higher level while they develop. While this is the least morbid reason to live on the sidelines this is still a harrowing fate knowing you're touching the field in sporadic doses. As a fifteen year old, my first season playing a varsity sport was spent in a similar fashion, five ten minutes in a competitive game and just try to contribute to the team and make my mark in anyway. The days of an easier game, I suddenly had a bigger role and things felt like the lottery. Knowing this was temporary and I would have a bigger role is what kept morale up

 

Charlotte Native and ex-competitive soccer player Alessandro Felice sat down with us to discuss his spells on the sideline. "Yeah when it came to riding the bench as a prospect that didn't really apply to me" said Felice. "With both club and school teams as soon as I made a jump the baby was thrown into the pool for a baptism of fire, not much time to adjust." Felice always often played up a division and was usually facing bigger, taller opponents. 

There are few swifter punches to the gut then an injury. It can be one of the most frustrating things an athlete goes through. They are unfortunately a part of all sports and attempts to minimize are good but they can't be completely removed. "Injuries are such a tough blow, my first bad one was when I was 16. I turned the wrong way and hurt my knee pretty bad. My schools AD knew it wasn't good cause it was a no contact injury. " 

It was a long road back for Felice who missed out on the business end of his school season and missed the majority of his club season that year. "Even after I was fully recovered I didn't feel like I was back. Yeah, the physical injury for sure hurt like hell, but there was also a huge toll on my mental health. I was basically always bummed out then once I'm finally back, my trust is broken by myself?"

My own high school had a player that tore his ACL, and his next two seasons he had to wear a brace. He also made a permanent switch to metal studs on his cleats going forward. His new nickname was 'Robocop". Raleigh psychiatric worker Hunter Blake has had similar cases of a similar nature. "I've only been licensed for a few years now, so I haven't seen two many of these but they're memorable." There is an understated effect on mental health that comes with long term injury and having to finish a season as an onlooker. "Obviously I can't give names or specific details, but I've counseled a few athletes who were distraught to not be playing. It had become such a big part of them and now they were frightened it would happen again or never fully go away."

Mental Health  is slowly becoming less taboo of a topic for people from all walks of life. It is finally being taken more seriously, you truly never know what someone is going through. Almost everyone you see on the street has at least one reason to breakdown, it makes kindness all the more important. Athletes and mental health may be an odd combination for some but it is not something that can be ignored.