The injury bug

There is a part of sports no one likes to deal with, but it is a factor almost every year on almost every team.

I know of what I speak on this issue, been there, done that. 

I’m talking about injuries. 

Injuries as a variation of the saying goes, “happen”. 

They can be minor, nagging issues that cause temporary lineup changes, or major, devastating happenings that can derail, even wreck a season. 

And no team is immune, particularly of the past few years, Hot Springs High. 

The most recent setback for the Savage Heat and Lady Heat sports teams is the broken ankle suffered by multiple sport standout Kara Christensen, a junior who suffered the injury a few weeks ago during hurdling practice. 

It was the latest in a string of injuries that have plagued Hot Springs, along with the serious leg injury sustained by senior standout John Waterbury, who tore up his lower leg during the first game of this past football season. 

Senior Nick McAllister, a rodeo-honed all-around athlete has had a variety of injuries over the years that have slowed him down, if there is such a thing with those who take part in rodeo. 

Earlier this year, Superior sophomore Turner Milender, the latest in the line of outstanding Milenders at the Mineral County school, had a bid for a high place in the state wrestling championships derailed by a knee injury after placing fifth the year before as a freshman. 

Plains senior Darren Standeford has been sidelined more than once with a variety of injuries over his illustrious career as Horsemen. 

The list goes on and on.  It’s not an indictment of sports. Physical activity often comes with a risk of injury.  It happens despite solid training and conditioning efforts by coaches and staff who do a great job of preventing the majority of such setbacks. 

But when an injury rears its ugly mug, the ripple effect can be a real bummer to say the least. 

The Hot Springs women were sailing along with a solid track and field season when the injury to Christensen, who’s sister Katelyn also suffered an injury her junior year that required surgical repair. 

Christensen is a human points machine in sports, from placing high in several different track events to usually leading the basketball team in scoring and being a leader on the volleyball hardwoods. 

Waterbury’s loss at the start of the football season left a big hole in the offense and defense and was a big loss for the Plains-Hot Springs wrestling team where he was a consensus favorite for a high place at the state finals, while Milender’s injured leg took away the wrestling team’s best chance for wrestling gold. 

All were in their own way devastating to their teams. 

But the good news is these are young folks.  Not guys my age who rake half the lawn and go through a bottle of liniment over the next few days. 

One of the best things about youth is the resiliency that goes with it. Bouncing back is the rule, not the exception. 

Katelyn Christensen came back and had a solid senior year that landed her a scholarship to Carroll College in Helena.  Sister Kara, it is widely believed, will be good to go by this coming fall’s volleyball season. 

Milender will bounce back, and Waterbury will move on to the next level. 

They will heal; life will go on. 

During my junior year, I was playing street basketball and landed on a stick that was on the outdoor court, which was a cement driveway to the neighbor’s garage. Crutches ruled the rest of my senior year as my badly torn ankle ligaments got better. 

And perhaps the best healer of all is the drive and determination all these athletes and others who have been struck by the injury bug have working work for them. 

The character is there to predict a full recovery. 

I think it is buffeted by clean, country living.