As an athlete, you learn that injuries are a part of sports. Learning how to bounce back from an injury is crucial for your athletic career and the team you play for. FLG Alumni, Stephen Jahelka, is a great example of an athlete who knows how to deal with adversity. From the moment Stephen tore his Achilles a few weeks ago, Stephen has been improving individually and has been helping his team get better from the sidelines. Stephen was kind enough to share with us his list of the Top 5 Ways an injured athlete can #LeadFromTheSidelines
- Get Healthy!: The best way to help your team is to focus all your effort on getting healthy. The faster you get fully healthy, the faster you get back onto the field. So crush your rehab with the same effort and intensity you would put into a game. The training room is your field under the lights!!
- Keep everyone on the sideline enthusiastic and into a game: A fired up and rowdy bench can energize guys on the field.
- Communicate what you see during the game and practice: Having a different perspective and angle from the sidelines may allow you to see things that players on the field aren’t (open looks, how other team’s plays develop, etc.)
- Keep getting better: However you can, keep getting better. Whether its core, lunges, extra cardio with your trainer, show your teammates you are getting after it by working around your injury and going just as hard as they are in practice on top of your own rehab. This is also a great time to watch some film and identify some areas of your own game you plan to work on when you get back, if you are too physically limited to work on them right now.
- Don’t let your injury change who you are: Despite being sidelined, you are still a part of the team! Act and lead as if you were still playing, whether its getting on guys at practice, making pregame speeches or reacting with emotion after big plays.
FLG would like to thank Stephen for sharing his Top 5 ways injured players can #LeadFromTheSidelines
In Stephen’s first game back on the sideline’s for Harvard, they upset the Cornell Big Red in a thrilling 1 goal game! Video highlights of the game and Stephen leading from the Harvard sideline can be seen below!
#Studlete #FLG #FLGLAX #FLGlacrosse #LeadFromTheSidelines
