When it comes student athletes injuries, there is a lot that goes into their recovery behind the scenes that fans don’t get to see. The athletes have to go through physical therapy and have to build strength back up in whatever part of their body got hurt. Lots of athletes can developed what is known as ” Depression”. Depression is a mood disorder that has persistent sadness, lack of energy, and loss of interest in an activity. This can lead to athletes giving up during physical therapy or during the practices to help them come back healthy, which could also result in it taking longer for the athlete to get have on to the field/ court.
“I felt like I let my team down,” said the Georgia Bulldogs running back, who has just finished his junior year at the University of Georgia (UGA) and has won 2 SEC championships. He is from Compton and South Central, California. He started football when he was 5, after his mom signed him up for a youth track club. After starting football, he went and scored three touchdowns in his first game.
After limping off the field at the Red and Black game. The running back suffered an ankle injury that resulted in him not being able to finish the scrimmage on head coach Kirby Smarts orders. “It prevented me from playing the sport I loved,” he said. He was asked how he keep his mental wellbeing high, “You have to keep your head up.” During the Georgia Bulldogs running back’s freshman year, he was on fire. The stats were high and the speed was even faster.
Baylee Beachler, a softball athlete at Robert Morris, agrees that her injury affected her mentally. “My injury affected me physically by making me feel out of place and without a purpose, it messed up my every day routines and took away my ability to do what I love.” In 2025, she was the first women in Pendleton County High School to sign with a Division 1 program. She is from Franklin, West Virginia. She suffers from a torn tendon in her shoulder. ” It affected my mental health by making me feel left out because I could never do anything with my team. It also made me feel worthless because my every day revolved around softball and I didn’t know what to do without it.”
In 2024, she was throwing in a game, when the injury occurred. It ended her 2024 season and she couldn’t throw until December. “It impacted my daily life by messing up my routines of going to the gym every day and working on softball every day, now I just have to sit around and go to therapy once a week. It pulled me away from most of my relationships because I was unable to go out and do things with my friends and family, I am working to get back to hanging out with all of them again now that I’m recovering.” She was a huge gym junkie and when she got injured she couldn’t work out. All she has now is physical therapy.
For injured athletes it’s a long road ahead. “It’s a long process. I get better everyday,” the running back explains. Before his injury, he took on a huge role to bring the Georgia Bulldogs 671 yards and nearly 1,000 rushing yards. The players and coaches would describe him as “a little ball of energy,” and that he has a team-first attitude.
Although the road is long , mindset is everything. Beachler agrees, “It was hard but I just changed my mindset to look at the road ahead and think about all the good things that come out of it and how I’ll be stronger next year.” Her coaches would describe her as a very hard worker and that she never gives up on what she sets her mind to.
Athletes have different ways in dealing with their injuries.”I have not participated in any of that other than physical therapy. I turned to God to help me with my struggles and he has helped me the most,” said Beachler. Both athletes have had very hard recovery journeys and have both explained they have to keep their head up and work hard to be able to recover. “Rehab daily,” said the running back when was asked about how he was dealing with his injury.
Everything changes when you get injured because you have to adapt to the situation and try and stay positive through it all, so you can get through it. “Routine was wake up, lift, go to classes, go to practice, sleep. That was my every day. After my injury it was no lift, some classes, lots of dr appointments, sitting at practice and watching, which was super hard for me to do,’ explained Beachler. Although injuries are very hard on athletes, it enables them to prevail.
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