Running down the field with the ball tucked underneath his arm during a preseason scrimmage, Nico Perez felt as if everything was fine. It was at that moment, another player slipped and took Perez down with him. On his way down, another player dove into his shoulder with their helmet and hurt it in the process. What was thought to be another game, turned out to be his last for the season.

Perez, sophomore, was a linebacker on the junior varsity football team before his injury.

“At first it just felt like I popped my shoulder out of place so I tried to lift myself up but I couldn’t use my left arm.”

Once he went back to his team for the huddle, he asked his coach of he could pop it back into place and go back out. His coach said that it didn’t look right and sent Perez to the ER. Next thing he knew, he had a broken collarbone and was told he couldn’t do football.

The news was crushing to Perez. Football was good for his anger issues because it was an outlet for him to release his anger and allowed him to concentrate better. It was also upsetting to Perez because he specifically wanted to play on the JV team to be with his friends.

“Just knowing I couldn’t play with my team when others looked up to me and seeing their disappointment when I wasn’t able to play hurt.”

Despite the news that he can’t play football this year, he still plans to do track and will hopefully go back to football his junior year after going through rehabilitation.