Only one word comes to mind when I hear that statement.
Stupid!
The last time I looked, the idea of pain was your body telling you that there is something wrong. Serious pain means there’s a serious problem.
Now before you go off the deep end, I get it, everyone is sore during softball season because softball is a very demanding game. We are not talking about being sore after a long day at the ballpark, we are talking about pain that sticks with a kid. Pain that makes them not want to practice and play.
We’re talking about the pain that says you should be seeing a doctor not being told to suck it up.
We want our kids to be excited about playing the game. We want them to be excited about coming to practice. We want them to be excited about working on their own to improve their skills. If they re hurting, they’re not going to be excited about doing any of those things. All they are likely to do is make an injury even worse.
Kids are not mini adults! An adult will know when they are injured and be able to make an informed decision about what they should do. Our kids are not in the same position.
The young player doesn’t want to let any one down, they don’t want to miss out on the next game and they don’t want to lose their starting spot. Unfortunately, kids are less able to explain their injury and more likely to be able to be influenced to keep playing rather than get the help they need.
Coaches and parents, we need you to keep the bigger picture in mind. Keeping a talented kid in the lineup might seem like a good strategy for the short term but might be really damaging for the long haul. Players who play in pain don’t play as well, they are more likely to make an injury worse and are more likely to want to quit playing altogether.
Pain is a pain, don’t ignore it!
