Bolivar, Mo. - Sports have generally brought people an immense amount of joy. The ability to better yourself everyday as an athlete, and also contribute to a team for a common goal is a blessing. For a college athlete, being active and competing is second nature. According to the NCAA, only about 6% of high school students go on to play college sports. The challenge that comes with being an extreme competitor is handling not being able to compete. Nearly every athlete has some type of injury in their sport at some point or another, ranging from a minor stubbed toe to career spinal cord damage. Though injuries are a part of the game, they still are an unfortunate reality student-athletes hate to face.
 
SBU student athletes Collin Sutton (football) and Kate McConville (softball) both dealt with injuries ending their senior season earlier than intended. They both also decided to take their fifth year of school to go out on their own terms. They've been able to deal with these injuries by finding their identity outside of sports and finding grace and joy in everything.
 
Senior Quarterback Sutton was hurt this past fall in the season opener. He tore his Achilles tendon on the run trying to avoid pressure. For Sutton, this is the second time he's torn his Achilles, the first time being on the opposite foot in 2021. Having overcome the injury already, he's mentally dealing with it better this time, admitting the first injury took a toll on him.
 
"Honestly for a time I was probably a little depressed, cause I was just feeling terrible… but I think it was just because my identity was completely wrapped up in football. This time, my identity is not in football. And just having that foundation in Jesus Christ is the most important thing because, I mean, even if I never took another snap, it would hurt, obviously. But it wouldn't cause me that pain and heartbreak, like it did the first time."
 
Physically he also feels better handling the injury this time since he knows what to expect, and what the process should look like.
 
"I know what comes with it, so I know when I'm reaching milestones. I just started jogging like a month ago, it felt super good to get to that point. Or being able to do plyos feels good. Being able to squat or even being able to just walk… it happens faster, I just feel better. And also, I don't have that pressure of feeling rushed to get better.
 
As a quarterback, a lot of football is reading defenses and mentally knowing what's going on. Although physical reps have been limited over the months, Sutton claims how he has embraced taking on a 'player coach' role as he too continues to learn the game. Sutton says, "The Quarterback position has to be 70% mental at the very least. Taking mental reps is always important because, even now I can't participate during team sessions, but whenever team sessions are going on, I'm back there thinking like, okay here's the play call here's what I'm thinking, and I'm reading the play as if I'm live".
 
The spring has been a time of relatively smooth recovery for Sutton as the Southwest Baptist football team ramps up spring ball practices.
 
For Kate McConville, this season has been a testament to her successful recovery process as she's helping lead SBU softball to their best season in years, a little over a year after tearing her ACL. Starting since her freshman year she's helped revert the program back to winning ways as they are on pace for their first conference playoff berth since 2017.
 
McConville injured her ACL sliding into 3rd base only 16 games into her season. She missed the entirety of conference play and nine months after the season. For McConville she feels like she was prepared for the injury.
 
"God was kind of preparing me for my injury in a way because I was in the word more than I ever had been, and I had been growing my relationship with God… You have doubts and fears and stuff about coming back or if it's going to be my last season, but I feel like God always instilled a peace in me that I knew I was going to be okay no matter what. So, waking up every day I just had to go about it with the mindset that I'm just grateful to even have an opportunity to come back and play another year and grateful to have an opportunity to just keep moving my body".
 
Injuries are a physical setback, but to overcome a season ending injury and get back to aspired shape is a mental battle every day. Being willing to attack an injury and find peace in the inevitable is the difference between a healthy return and a mental decline. Growth is to be had everyday regardless of physical state.
 
 "The rehab was really hard, but going through what I went through, it was just a good opportunity to learn more about myself and grow as a person".
 
McConville admits she hasn't handled every injury this confidently, "My sophomore year, I started to deal with smaller injuries…but my junior year, I broke my hand two weeks before season ended, and that felt like the end of the world to me. I didn't know how to cope with it… That was definitely at a time I was putting my identity in my sport".
 
Being an athlete comes to an end for everyone, one way or another. Sports are not everything nor are they forever. When athletes understand that, dealing with unforeseen futures like an injury, becomes a little easier.
 
McConville concludes with advice to collegiate athletes, "Injuries are inevitable, and things are going to happen throughout your four years, five years of college. Making sure that you find your identity in whatever you believe in, instead of your sport…even when there's no trials going on in your life, or there's no negativity going on in your life… finding your identity in Christ now before something big, like an injury, is the most important thing, because when that does happen, you'll have faith that you can lean on".