Contact Sport Senior Year?

My Interest In Sea Power

My Interest In Sea Power

USNA Class of 2028 Appointee
Joined
Dec 21, 2023
Messages
5
Hello, I received my appointment for the Class of 2028 at the beginning of January, and have accepted, as well I am on my school's Lacrosse team.

Our season starts next week, and I will most likely receive a lot of playing time as a Senior, but I worry about potentially injuring myself before I-Day. I have received multiple suggestions, from either not to worry about it at all or not even play. I would like to ask for advice on how I should approach this season/sport to make the best decision for a hopeful future at USNA.

Thank you.
 
Lacrosse doesn't seem like a sport super likely to cause injury. As someone in a similar situation (USMA appointee), I'm in wrestling season right now, and I haven't been injured. My suggestion is that you weigh the benefits with the costs, and also consider the likelihood of injury. Consider questions like the following. Do you have a history of injury from sports, and this sport specifically? How much do you enjoy this sport, and do you feel you may regret not doing it down the line? Does your team need you, and is there a chance you'll achieve some kind of high performance, like going to State for said sport? My suggestion is that while yes you don't want to be injured, physical fitness is paramount to military service, so doing a sport helps you to stay in shape, and may actually prevent injuries in your future. But, certain sports do carry higher injury risk, and so may be wise to abstain from once you have an appointment. For example, I'll be throwing shotput this year, rather than pole vaulting. In the end, do what you think is wise and healthy.
 
If you enjoy playing lacrosse, then play lacrosse. As much as we kid around that appointees should bubble wrap themselves until I-Day, you need to enjoy your life, and stay in shape. You could skip your season and then theoretically twist your ankle the morning of I-Day and be sent home. This has happened.

I'm not saying to take unnecessary risks, but don't be afraid to live your life these next upcoming months.
 
Many many threads on here regarding bubble wrapping after Appointment. It really is up to you. Do you want to sit at home and worry about getting hurt and losing Appointment, or do you want to keep living your life the way that lead to your success ?

My view, for what is worth ... keep your foot on the gas and continue living your life. Just don't do anything stupid ....(ie. drugs, alcohol, legal problems).
 
Your choice to do what you want but as the father of a recruited athlete my son who played 2 sports, wrestling and rugby skipped the spring rugby season under recommendation of his coaches. I know many cadets who play their sport and nothing happens and they have no issue reporting but I also know of several who tore their acl, broke a collar bone and fractured a foot who were unable to be cleared in time. Again anything can happen so it's your choice but an injury can derail your plans which typically is a major worry.
 
Plenty of incoming candidates play spring sports. Do some get injured to the point of not being able to report in on I-Day? Sure. That *will* happen to someone. If you are not going to play your spring sport for fear of possible injury, then you'd better not leave the house at all between now and I-Day! Imagine that you sit out your senior lacrosse season, missing out on all the fun and leadership opportunities, only to break a bone jumping on a trampoline at a graduation party. Or have someone push you into a pool at a pool party that causes an injury. I believe someone at USAFA once famously tripped getting off the bus on I-Day and was a medical turn back due to the severity of their injuries. Anything could happen anywhere. You shouldn't just stop life because of what 'could' happen!
 
Any physical activity can lead to injury. Simply running can even do that. You have to balance your interests with your safety. Risk analysis.
 
This is a tough grammatical sentence but put on the best Gruff Coach Accent with a southern twinge: "If you decide to play, it is 100% every game and practice. Whatever you do, do not play 'not to get hurt' as that is the surest guarantee of getting hurt."
 
ThomasJ said:
Lacrosse doesn't seem like a sport super likely to cause injury. As someone in a similar situation (USMA appointee), I'm in wrestling season right now, and I haven't been injured. My suggestion is that you weigh the benefits with the costs, and also consider the likelihood of injury. Consider questions like the following. Do you have a history of injury from sports, and this sport specifically? How much do you enjoy this sport, and do you feel you may regret not doing it down the line? Does your team need you, and is there a chance you'll achieve some kind of high performance, like going to State for said sport? My suggestion is that while yes you don't want to be injured, physical fitness is paramount to military service, so doing a sport helps you to stay in shape, and may actually prevent injuries in your future. But, certain sports do carry higher injury risk, and so may be wise to abstain from once you have an appointment. For example, I'll be throwing shotput this year, rather than pole vaulting. In the end, do what you think is wise and healthy.
Click to expand...
This made me laugh...@ThomasJ


OP, As a mom of lacrosse player, I thinknitbis a good question to be thinking about. My USAFA cadet played his senior year because he felt that he owed it to his coach and his team. He was a team captain. Finished the season unscathed.

My.current candidate will also play his senior year but has requested a to play a "safer" position. He is not a game maker and coach will play him as a defensive middle to diffuse some of the risk. He loves his team and coach and really wants to play.

I agree with others that you can get injured doing almost anything sonitnis a very personal decision.
 
Our lacrosse player is playing their senior season. He realizes that it is most likely his last year playing and he enjoys it. Granted, he also has a little bit less of a risk as a defensive player. We have asked him to never play through pain… and to consider not playing a specific team that has a reputation for injuring opponents. At the end of the day HE chose to play the sport he loves and realizes that if he got injured he has time before May 1 to attend his back up school to heal.
 
Play 100%, not second thought about it!
 
My son is still awaiting to see if he gets an appointment, but is continuing his wrestling season this year. His decision, but I wonder how worried he was when we all watched a kid from another team literally get his humerus snapped on the mat this past Tuesday. Through and through break while wrestling one of our "weaker" JV players. My DS eyeballing me from across the gym while watching my husband (ER doc) and the trainer set the kid's arm for an ambulance ride to the hospital. Anything can happen, in the sports arena and or stepping off your front step. Be careful out there!
 
As others have said above, someone could sit out lacrosse and be injured in a car accident or any other of at least a dozen ways unrelated to the sport.

To me, "bubble wrap,"refers to not doing something inherently dangerous that isn't part of your normal routine. For example, if you've never skateboarded, now's not the time to do try the courses over steps and down railings or the loop-de-loops on the competition courses. Might want to avoid ATV'ing or off-road cycling. Maybe not the best time to start learning to ride a motorcycle. That's very different than continuing to enjoy and participate in a sport you love, to be there for your teammates, etc.

Assuming the injury is not of the permanent type, "worst case" is spending a year elsewhere and joining USNA in the next class. Unfortunate, but not the end of the world -- 1/3 of each class has had at least a year of post h.s. work.

Live your life!
 
I see various perspectives - cool - here's another.

Take a time machine - set the flux capacitor to day 1 of Plebe summer 2024 at USNA - iDay, whatever it's called... In one scenario you took the months leading up to focus on nutrition, sleep, exercise, stretching, running and are coming in mentally and physically fit and you are at USNA, positioned to succeed as best you can. It's harder than you ever imagined, but you are thankful you came in started at full strength. Now imagine instead, you are sitting at home, with an icepack on your knee, and heading into a window of surgery, daily PT, and you're HOPING you'll be well enough to become a member of the class of 2029. Lacrosse is a pivot sport - mechanical injuries happen. I'd make a joke about switching to tennis, but tennis like lacrosse is a pivot sport and injuries happen in both.

A fellow athlete was in your shoes in 1985 - USNA appt in hand, blew his knee out wrestling his senior year- appt pulled- he got the knee fixed, went to Purdue, became a pilot, flew 30 years for a major carrier, made a ton of money, and to this day regrets not serving. He WAS that good in HS - third in the state the year before losing to a 4x champ his junior year... so I get pursuing a title, but... He was/ is as strong as an ox, and we all thought he the last person that was going to get hurt.

You have to decide what risk you want to take - and YOU will have to live with the consequences. I like the consideration above of talking to your coach about risk mitigation - which works if you aren't the all-state attack player or whatever. I also like the idea of the injury not happening - my DS flew 11k feet in a plane by himself most days the summer before he became a midn (albeit in NROtC vs USNA) - it's a risk but he took it, all is well, so balance risk vs living your life and make a decision you can live with.

Good luck to you. Any decision you make might be second guessed but do what is best for you. in HS focus is intense but honestly as an adult you realize a lot of that, um, stuff just doesn't matter.
 
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Caleb Williams and Drake Maye sat out this year’s College Football bowl games for their respective teams …. Lacrosse is a contact sport too …. It’s fast and dynamic

If I were in your shoes … I would pass on Lacrosse and have a Running and Weight training program instead …
.
 
If you're a blue chip recruit your coach will let you know if you should be playing any particular season. Otherwise it's just you and your comfort with risk. Know yourself and your sport: have you been hurt often in the past? Do you play with abandon or under control? Do you play a position where you'll be banging heads with other players? Is your team counting on your contribution? If you know your orthopedic clinic's phone number by heart maybe reflect a bit, but for most players it's a last chance to go out with your team and represent your school. Since there's little chance of you pulling on the USNA jersey you should think about what you want the end of your LAX career to look like, because chances are this could be it. I'd play, but I always wanted to play every day, thoughtlessly and fervently. My DD played her last club season particularly because she knew it was the end of her career and wanted to go out on the court rather than after a sawed-off covid season. Your milage may vary.
 
My Interest In Sea Power said:
Hello, I received my appointment for the Class of 2028 at the beginning of January, and have accepted, as well I am on my school's Lacrosse team.

Our season starts next week, and I will most likely receive a lot of playing time as a Senior, but I worry about potentially injuring myself before I-Day. I have received multiple suggestions, from either not to worry about it at all or not even play. I would like to ask for advice on how I should approach this season/sport to make the best decision for a hopeful future at USNA.

Thank you.
Click to expand...
... so this is only for "my interest in sea power." This issue always comes up every 3-4 months. I've previously written a formal risk assessment resulting in a very high risk of missing I-Day due to an injury. I-Day in itself is a very emotional event for Plebes, parents, and family members. That walk to Alumni Hall to report for duty early in the morning is filled with a combination of fear, sadness, confusion, anxiety, excitement, uncertainty. Now just imagine for one moment that during that walk, you are nursing a swollen ankle or a black eye or a slight cut below the eye line or a bruised rib or a cervical pinched nerve or a swollen knee or a back pain or you're walking on crutches (and good luck with that when the tyrannical firsties see you). Rhetorical question: Can you make it to the Swearing Ceremony?
 
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If you are a recruited athlete, I don't know how you not play that sport that helped you get to the your dream. There's no way I could have persuaded my daughter otherwise, so I didn't try.

Maybe some posters above, don't know, but lacrosse is a contact sport, including women's lacrosse. There is a lots of injuries. There seems to be lots of ACLs for women and points to a need for specific strength training. That's probably another discussion.

Anyway, our plebe played her Junior spring lacrosse season and her summer rising Senior club season. Her intent was to help teammates to get offers. She strained her miniscus in a summer tournament. She recovered quickly and had a great Senior season. Could it have gone another way? Sure, but we are fans of living life. Everyone has to choose for them self. We wouldn't judge anyone's decision either way.
 
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