Dr. Sportsfem: So you're going to need to go to physical therapy for a month for your knee pain.
13 year old boy's mother: Will he be able to play football?
Dr. Sportsfem: Not until his knee stops hurting
13 year old boy: OK, I just won't play football this year
Dr. Sportsfem: Well you can still play, you just can't play for a month or so.
13 year old boy: No, it's OK. I understand. I just won't play.
Dr. Sportsfem: Your knee will probably be ok by the time school starts
13 year old boy: Yeah, but there's summer practice so I'm going to have to miss that. And I know myself, if I go back too early, I'll play too hard and then I'll just hurt my knee again. So I just won't play this year.
After we left the room, I turned to Dr. Sportsfem and said "I don't think he likes playing football too much." She said "I was thinking the same thing." I realize I am not an expert on 13 year old boys (and trust me, I am OK with that) but I've never seen a kid give in that easily to not doing a sport.
As someone who has been hurt in the preseason, it is nearly impossible to catch up physically if you don't go through the early training. He'd have to spend a lot of time training on his own just to keep up with his teammates who had been through two or three-a-day training sessions.
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