“I was devastated… sport is like an addiction nearly”: a qualitative study examining young athletes’ experiences with injury in sport

Despite the developmental benefits of sport in adolescence, injury is common and can have a profound impact beyond just physical symptoms. This qualitative study aims to explore the lived experiences of adolescent athletes with sports- related injury in Ireland. This was a qualitative study using one-on-one semi-structured interviews and a phenomenology method. Twenty-one secondary school students from across the Island of Ireland aged 15-18 years who had experienced a sports-related injury within the last 2 years agreed to take part. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse the collected data. Seventeen adolescents (eight female, mean age 16.2 (range 15-18) years) from five different sports were included for analysis. Predominantly negative experiences were described with four overarching themes identified through thematic analysis: playing through pain and injury, the social influence on playing through pain and injury behaviour, the psychological impact of sports injury and player confidence and its role in returning to sport. In conclusion, a culture of playing through pain and even injury is widely accepted in adolescent sports and is influenced by the social circles that surround these young athletes. The impact of sports injury goes beyond just the physical, with these athletes experiencing devastation and a loss of identity due to their absence from sport. Sports coaches can help reduce this negative impact by keeping injured players involved in the team/sport as much as possible. Conversely, sports injury also provided opportunity for personal growth in some cases, improving mental resilience and self-reliance.