RALEIGH, N.C.–Watching Olympic athletes playing their sport is exciting for the girls attending training camp at the Triangle Volleyball Club. But it’s also a lesson in the toll sports can take on your body.

Eighth grader Rayna Yvars of Cary has been playing volleyball for three years. And she’s seen her share of injuries.

“I known friends that have broken fingers and they still play,” she said. “I jammed my finger before tryouts and it blew up twice the size, maybe even three times and I had to play the next day.”

Jenna Hinton, of Triangle Volleyball Club, says younger players typically don’t experience as many serious injuries as high school players. Some high schoolers are on the court up to twelve months a year, making them more susceptible to overuse injuries.

“Rotator cuff inflammation, back sprains, sometimes stress fractures in different parts of the body, just from all the jumping,” said Hinton.

According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, doctors treat more than 187,000 volleyball-related injuries each year. Hands-fingers, knees, shoulders and ankles are the most common sites of volleyball injuries.

“Severe ankle sprains may be associated with instability, they may be associated with fractures of the bones,” said Dr. Selene Parekh, UNC Orthopaedic Surgeon. “And so those are some of the things you need to think about when you have persistent pain.”

Parekh says stabilizing joints by wearing braces and support, and conditioning and strengthening muscles can help prevent sprains and strains in young athlete’s developing bodies.

And unlike their Olympic role models, he says injured players should sit on the sidelines to let injuries heal. But that’s not easy for a thirteen year old.

“They’re inspiring and it makes me keep going,” said Yvars. “If I get hurt and I just stop, it makes me think about them and what they have to go through, so it just pushes me even harder to work through it.”

Coaches say these girls also think sitting out also means letting the team down. For better or worse, they say, it’s part of the female athlete’s psyche to hang in there and play through the pain. Even at 13.

By: Julie Henry