Learning From the Sidelines

Injuries are an unfortunate inevitability of sports. If you’re an active athlete for long enough, it’s quite likely you will experience at least a minor injury - a scraped knee, a twisted ankle, a jammed finger. Of course, sometimes these injuries can be much worse. And when they reach this stage, athletes often require rehabilitation. But despite the pain, the experience can also sometimes bring out the best in an athlete. While watching on the sidelines, injured athletes can learn more about themselves and their sport than if they were participating.

Recovering baller shows wisdom

Derrick Rose, point guard for the Chicago Bulls, was supposed to be the franchise savior. Nobody was quite expecting him to snag six rings like Michael Jordan, but after His Airness retired, the team quickly plummeted into the league’s cellar. Rose, a Chicago native, became the next great hope for a serious hoops town. But after he endured a few ACL tears and a long recovery, the critics have lined up and questioned his dedication to the game. Rose, a humble star in a world of Prime Time acolytes, has shown a rare level of maturity.

“I know a lot of people get mad when they see me sit out,” he told The New York Times. "But I think a lot of people don’t understand that when I sit out, it’s not because of this year. I’m thinking about long term. I’m thinking about after I’m done with basketball, having graduations to go to, having meetings to go to.“

Injured swimmer learns the hard way

The Olympic Games are perhaps the pinnacle of the sports world. But if that’s the case, what do you call the days after the glory?

Amy Van Dyken-Rouen, a six-time Olympic swimming gold medalist, is recovering from a spinal-cord injury, according to USA Today. The pain has weakened her left side, but Van Dyken-Rouen is braving plenty of pain to make her way back. She wants to walk with braces and have equal strength on both sides of her body.

"It was hard physically and mentally,” she told the publication. “The whole thing about this is you’ve got to get over it. Things are going to suck, but you must move on because there are going to be greater things that come around.”

Both Rose and Van Dyken-Rouen have struggled with the psychological challenges of an injury. However, as seen by their mature approaches to recovery, an injury can also offer perspective and test resolve.

Sports team websites can function as a good way to consolidate injury treatment and rehab methods. They can also be the right place to open discussion on the redeeming things we can learn from injuries, these often inevitable but teachable experiences.