Countless athletes dream of competing at the next level and continuing their careers in college. To play at the collegiate level, athletes must endure a stressful and taxing recruiting process. It is very difficult, mentally and physically, to endure an injury in the middle of this process, especially when doctors tell you that you won't be able to compete at a high level for a long time or maybe never again.
We spoke to VIS Expert and Sport Psychologist, Megan Cannon, PhD, and VIS Mentor and Professional Runner, Vanessa Fraser, about ways to approach this setback, addressing communicating with college coaches, rehab, mental health and more.
View Each Day as a New Challenge
For Fraser, these challenges are all too familiar. Suffering from an achilles injury and surgery in 2020, Fraser knew the road ahead would be paved with adversity. She says that she embraced the underdog mentality and set goals to endure the recovery process and come back stronger.
“My injury was a new challenge and to me, new challenges are always motivating. It gave me new goals to focus on,” Fraser says. “I broke it down day by day and got excited about each day of the process, which I think is the most important part of the process.”
“Talking to other athletes, getting support from a therapist or counselor and finding other hobbies in an injury situation are important. You need to have activities that remind you that you are more than just your sport.”
Speak to Our Strengths Off the Court
An important factor related to injury recovery during the college recruiting process is communication. It’s vital to remain honest and transparent with college coaches, even if it feels like honesty would limit opportunities to play at a higher level. Fraser recommends being communicative not only about our situation and plan of action, but also our attributes as an athlete, will help us throughout this stressful process
“One of the things that helped me in the recruiting process was communicating how driven of an athlete I was and that I believed in myself and saw myself competing at the collegiate level. Communicate that vision and show that you have that motivation even if you’re not currently at your best,” Fraser says.
Find an Outlet Beyond Our Sport
In dealing with these two major stressors, Cannon suggests connecting with others and finding other outlets to distract us from our situation because it’s an essential component of identity. “Talking to other athletes, getting support from a therapist or counselor and finding other hobbies in an injury situation are important. When you are sidelined, you no longer have an outlet,” Cannon says. “You need to have activities that remind you that you are more than just your sport.”
Cannon also recommends keeping a progress journal, practicing breathwork and using this time of rest to our advantage. She says it’s important to look back at how far we’ve come and focus on little moments of celebration on our path back to competition.
No matter our sport or age, injuries are inevitable in athletics. What matters most is how we fight back from adversity and how we grow as an athlete and a person. After acknowledging the difficulty of this process, focus on each singular moment and transform our trials into reachable goals in order to put ourselves in the best position to come back stronger than ever!
