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2015
A Pilot Study Investigating the Reasons for Playing
&rough Pain and Injury: Emerging &emes in
Men’s and Women’s Collegiate Rugby
Leilani Madrigal
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, leilani.madrigal@csulb.edu
Jamie Robbins
West Chester University
Diane L. Gill
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, dlgil[email protected]du
Katherine Wurst
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, kmwurst@uncg.edu
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Madrigal, Leilani; Robbins, Jamie; Gill, Diane L.; and Wurst, Katherine, "A Pilot Study Investigating the Reasons for Playing =rough
Pain and Injury: Emerging =emes in Men’s and Women’s Collegiate Rugby" (2015). Athletic Performance Research. 7.
h>p://digitalcommons.unl.edu/athleticresearch/7
Sport provides individuals with opportunities to show-
case athletic talents and be competitive, while having
fun and being social. In addition, sport increases posi-
tive emotions and energy, while decreasing rates of heart
disease and obesity (Berger & Molt, 2000; Blair & Mor-
ris, 2009; Warburton, Nicol, & Bredin, 2006). One pos-
sible negative consequence of sport participation, how-
ever, is injury. Injury is a growing concern for athletes at
all levels of play. In fact, Williams and Andersen (2007)
estimate 25 million people in the United States become
injured due to participation in sport, exercise, and rec-
reational activities per year.
Collision sports (e.g., rugby, ice hockey) are distinctly
dierent from contact sports (e.g., dance, basketball),
not only in their rules, but also in the direct and intense
physicality involved (Maxwell, Visek, & Moores, 2009).
More specically, these sports are characterized by the
numerous collisions and tackles participants are involved
in throughout the course of play (Gabbett, 2005). Gab-
bett and Domrow (2007) studied collision sport athletes
in Australia for two seasons, nding an overall injury
incidence rate of 88.5 per 1000 training hours. More
recently, Peck, Johnston, Owens, and Cameron (2013) as-
sessed injury rates in intercollegiate rugby players over
a ve year period. Their results revealed that 71/129
(55%) women sustained 200 injuries (2.82/ athlete) and
151/240 (63%) men sustained 459 injuries (3.04 inju-
ries/athlete). Results of these studies indicate the high
risk nature of the sport and the likelihood for incurring
an injury during one’s career. Furthermore, research sug-
gests that injuries may become chronic in nature due to
the mentality of the player who learns to play with inju-
ries or becomes accustomed to them (Howe, 2001; Rod-
erick, Waddington, & Parker, 2000).
Antecedents to Playing Through Pain
The underlying question, therefore, is why do individu-
als elect to play through pain and risk further damage or
more severe injuries? One of the most widely accepted
reasons cited for playing through pain and injury is the
sport ethic. According to the sport ethic, injury is deemed
an inherent risk in sport and athletes are supposed to ac-
cept that risk and play through pain (Hughes & Coakley,
Published in The Sport Psychologist 29:4 (2015), pp. 310-318; doi: 10.1123/tsp.2014-0139.
Copyright © 2015 Human Kinetics. Used by permission.
A Pilot Study Investigating the Reasons for
Playing Through Pain and Injury: Emerging Themes
in Men’s and Women’s Collegiate Rugby
Leilani Madrigal, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Jamie Robbins, West Chester University
Diane L. Gill, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Katherine Wurst, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Abstract
Collegiate rugby is a competitive, collision sport, yet insucient empirical evidence exists regarding participants’ perspec-
tives on pain and injury. This study addressed male and female rugby players’ experiences with injury, and their views
about playing through pain and injury. Eleven rugby players (ve male; six female) competing in USA Rugby’s National Col-
lege 7’s tournament participated in semi structured interviews, which were recorded, transcribed, and content-analyzed.
Two major themes emerged: passion for sport and sport ethic. Passion for sport was composed of (a) love of the sport, (b)
meaning of the sport, and (c) desire to be on the eld. Sport ethic included: (a) helping the team, (b) game time sacrice,
(c) personality, (d) minimize, and (e) accepted behavior. The researchers explain these ndings and propose strategies for
increasing future athletes’ understanding of the dangers associated with playing through pain, and confronting the cur-
rently accepted culture of risk.
Keywords: injury management, sport, health behavior
310
digitalcommons.unl.edu
Reasons for Playing Through Pain and Injury in collegiate rugby 311
1991). Pain and injury are thus normalized and accepted,
as athletes are told to “shake it o,” “suck it up,” or “take
it like a man” (Curry, 1993; Howe, 2001; Malcolm, 2006).
Although masculine words are often used when referring
to the message of the sport ethic, the ndings to date on
gender dierences and playing through pain are equiv-
ocal. Nixon (1996) found in NCAA Division I athletes,
from a range of sports, that males expressed tougher atti-
tudes toward pain and injury, as well as stronger feelings
of pressure from coaches and fans to play hurt as com-
pared with their female counterparts. Whereas, more re-
cently Weinberg, Vernaue, and Horn (2013) found no gen-
der dierences in basketball players’ attitudes about, and
behavioral tendencies to, play through pain and injury.
The issue of gender appeared to be negated by Mal-
com’s (2006) ndings related to softball coaches. The
study found a clear acceptance of the sport ethic with
coaches who ignored complaints, made jokes when ath-
letes experienced pain, and told them to shake o mi-
nor injuries. Further support for the sport ethic among
coaches was revealed by Nixon (1994) who found that
college coaches believed those who played through in-
jury deserved the most respect. This concept deemed “the
sport ethic,” which is enforced by coaches and teammates
(Malcom, 2006), encourages the belief that a true athlete
must be willing to do whatever it takes to remain an ac-
tive participant, even if that means playing through pain
and injury (Hughes & Coakley, 1991; Nixon, 1996). One’s
socialization in sport is said to create these attitudes and
ensuing behaviors, but there is also the possibility that
playing through pain is more internally driven.
More specically, one’s passion may play a pivotal
role in the decision to play through pain. Passion is char-
acterized as a strong inclination toward an activity that
people like, nd important, and in which they invest time
and energy (Vallerand et al., 2003). According to Valle-
rand et al. (2003) there are two types of passion; harmo-
nious passion (i.e., the person controls his/her favorite
activity) and obsessive passion (i.e., the favorite activity
controls the person), that become internalized into one’s
identity. Harmonious passion leads individuals to freely
choose the activity (Vallerand et al., 2003). People who
have obsessive passion, by contrast, internalize the activ-
ity, making it central to their identity and allow it to con-
trol their behaviors and choices (Vallerand et al., 2003).
Obsessive passion may develop because the activity
inuences their social acceptance or self-esteem. For
example, an athlete entering a new school may join a
team and suddenly nd she has a new group of friends
and is earning accolades based on her athletic achieve-
ments. She may love the sport and accompanying ben-
ets of being on the team. This is all positive and may
lead to harmonious passion for the sport. The danger
arises when her passion for the sport becomes her sole
focus and everything else (e.g., relationships, academ-
ics, health) becomes irrelevant. In addition, research has
shown that obsessive (but not harmonious) passion pre-
dicts rigid persistence in ill-advised activities (Vallerand
et al., 2003). In football players, obsessive passion re-
lated to increased levels of general negative aect and a
rigid decision to return to play in the following season
(Vallerand et al., 2003). Football players exhibiting har-
monious passion, to the contrary, displayed a more ex-
ible sense of deliberation and considered factors such as
expected level of improvement, predicted playing time,
and the return of friends to the team when contemplat-
ing their return (Vallerand et al., 2003). In the context of
injury, student dancers who exhibited obsessive passion
spent less time engaging in activities to promote healing
when injured and were more likely to report personal
pride as a reason for not seeking adequate treatment for
their injuries (Rip, Fortin, & Vallerand, 2006). Taken to-
gether, individuals who elect to play through pain and in-
jury may do so as a result of the strong passion they feel
for their sport and a feeling of compulsion to keep going.
To date there has been a great deal of research ad-
dressing the playing through pain mentality in a variety
of sports, yet rugby has been studied primarily in Europe
(Lee et al., 2001) and among professionals (Howe, 2001),
with fewer studies addressing this topic among collegiate
rugby athletes in the United States.
Growth of Rugby in the USA
Collegiate rugby has grown dramatically since the 1970s
(Peck et al., 2013). In the past seven years, there has been
an exponential growth in youth and collegiate sports,
especially among women participants (Hull, 2014). In
2002, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
classied women’s rugby as an emerging sport. Based
on a report done by USA Rugby in 2011, 32% of all rugby
participants are female (USA Rugby, 2011). Rugby has
also been reinstated by the International Olympic Com-
mittee and will be featured in the Olympic Games in
2016, which will likely encourage cross-over athletes in-
terested in new forms of competitive sport participation.
Despite the growth in interest, most collegiate programs
retain club rather than varsity status, resulting in lit-
tle training and conditioning support, volunteer coaches,
substandard eld conditions and facilities, and limited
medical coverage (Peck et al., 2013).
Purpose
Given the high incidence of injury in collision sports and
the growing popularity of rugby in the United States,
more research is needed to better understand this pop-
ulation’s perspective on injury and playing through
pain. Therefore, the purpose of this pilot study was to
identify if injury reports of a sample of college rugby
players was comparable to previous ndings (Gabbett
& Domrow, 2007; Peck et al., 2013) to gain greater in-
sights into the actual prevalence and severity of injury in
this sport. In addition, we hoped to gain a better under-
standing of a sample of collegiate rugby athletes’ men-
tality regarding playing through pain or injury, as well
312 Madrigal et al. in The Sport Psychologist 29 (2015)
as any implications of gender in connection to one’s play
through pain and injury mindset.
Methods
Participants
Participants included ve male and six female rugby
players participating in USA Rugby’s National College
7’s tournament. A convenience sample has been accept-
able in qualitative research (Creswell, 1998), thus partic-
ipants were recruited directly from the tournament. Al-
though recruiting was limited by time constraints, game
schedules and weather; the nal sample did represent
athletes with a wide range in rugby experience. More
specically, these athletes had played the sport anywhere
from nine weeks to eight years. The majority of partici-
pants (73%) played high school sports in their past (i.e.,
soccer, basketball, baseball, football, volleyball, track,
softball, lacrosse, cross country, and wrestling), with
56% having played soccer. The majority of athletes be-
gan playing rugby in college, with the exception of one
male and one female who began their playing careers in
high school.
Procedure
After acquiring IRB approval, the primary investigator
contacted the USA Rugby tournament director for per-
mission to contact players at the tournament site. Rugby
players were recruited during USA Rugby’s National Col-
lege 7’s tournament, which includes a variety of high-
level collegiate athletes from universities from all around
the nation. Eight of the 47 teams that were present at the
tournament are represented in this study. Those who con-
rmed their willingness to participate were then asked
to read and sign a consent form before being interviewed
during their “down time.” Interviews were conducted on-
site in a reserved room. Once all athlete interviews were
completed, they were transcribed verbatim. All partici-
pates received a $10 gift card after their interview for
their participation.
Interview Guide
Using the same protocol as Olusoga, Butt, Hays, and May-
nard (2009), the interview guide was created based on
existing literature from sport psychology and sport so-
ciology (Brewer et al., 1995; Weinberg et al., 2013; Wil-
liams & Anderson, 2007) to address factors related to
sport injury. In addition, once all questions were created,
they were reviewed by experts in the eld. The rst set
of questions was informed by Brewer et al.’s (1995) nd-
ing that athletic identity is a strong indicator of injury
risk, leading to questions related to sport background,
entry into the sport and reasons for currently playing
(e.g., what drives you to play your sport; how did you get
started). According to Williams and Anderson (2007), in-
jury history plays a role in the susceptibility to injury and
reaction to future injury risk behavior, thus, the second
section focused on injury history, which was followed by
questions related to playing or not playing through pain
and injury; Curry, 1993; McEwen & Young, 2011; Wein-
berg, Vernau, & Horn, 2013). Finally, the interviews cul-
minated with questions concerning reporting of injuries
(e.g., do you report injuries; what inuences your de-
cision to report an injury). The questions were deemed
valid as all respondents were able to answer them with-
out further information or explanation from the inter-
viewer. As well, each respondent provided answers that
were relevant to the questions posed.
Data Analysis
Peer debriengs and triangulation were used throughout
the analysis process according to qualitative researchers’
recommendations and in accordance with previous stud-
ies in the eld (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Maykut & More-
house, 1994; Patton, 2002; Partington, Partington, & Ol-
ivier, 2009). The main objective was to identify themes,
while reducing researcher bias. Each investigator inde-
pendently reviewed the transcripts and created codes
to best explain the athletes’ words (Patton, 2002). Re-
sults were then discussed, and each code was compared,
and when necessary, defended before creating the nal
codebook, which contained the themes and denitions
deemed by the investigators to tell the athletes’ stories
most precisely. A third reviewer was employed to tri-
angulate the results and ensure that the codes created
matched the words of the athletes. To do this, a subsam-
ple of the raw data and the codebook were given to the
reviewer, who was asked to match the raw data (i.e., ath-
lete quotes) to the themes dened in the codebook. The
interrater reliability test was 87%, indicating acceptable
agreement (Miles & Huberman, 1994).
Results
Results regarding athletes’ experiences with, or obser-
vations of, injuries during their rugby experiences con-
rmed previous ndings regarding the dangers of the
sport. More specically, athletes experienced and wit-
nessed varying injuries to most every body part from
head to foot. More specically, they recalled observing
the following injuries during their playing careers: (a)
concussions; (b) broken collarbones; (c) dislocations and
bruising of shoulders; (d) ACL, PCL, and meniscus tears;
(e) nger injuries; (f) sprained ankles; (g) sti joints;
and (h) shin splints. They also have experienced all of
the above mentioned injuries, in addition to broken an-
kles, noses, feet, arms, and ngers during their play-
ing careers. Further injuries the participants incurred
were muscle contusions, jaw dislocations, facial lacera-
tions and tendonitis of the knee. The most common in-
jury was concussion, which was experienced by six out of
the eleven participants. There were very few dierences
Reasons for Playing Through Pain and Injury in collegiate rugby 313
between male and female injuries, and those few dier-
ences are evident in Table 1. These ndings help to jus-
tify the researchers’ line of questioning concerning the
athletes’ willingness to play through pain and injury, as
all participants witnessed and/or experienced severe in-
juries during their careers.
Playing Through
The results of the pilot study demonstrated athletes’
willingness to engage in play through pain behaviors,
and their reasons for doing so collapsed into two major
themes; namely, passion for sport and sport ethic. Pas-
sion for sport was composed of: (a) love of the sport, (b)
meaning of the sport, and (c) desire to be on the eld.
Sport ethic included: (a) helping the team, (b) game time
sacrice, (c) personality, (d) minimize, and (e) accepted
behavior. Only moderate dierences were apparent based
on sex and very few athletes expressed reasons for not
playing through pain or injury.
Passion for Sport
Love of the Sport. Male and female athletes mentioned
their love for the sport itself, as well as the social as-
pects that accompanied their participation. Some loved
the possibility of moving to the next level of competition,
while others enjoyed the contact nature of the sport. In-
terestingly, the physicality of the sport was only men-
tioned by a few male rugby players; whereas, multiple
female rugby players truly appreciated the hard hitting
nature of the sport. More directly, they explained, “I re-
ally enjoy sports and hitting hard.” Another stated,
I really like hitting people, and I like how physical it is. I
didn’t end up playing soccer in college like I had planned.
It was a little bit of a letdown, and I was kind of look-
ing for something to…get that out, that energy…out of
my system. I just like being physical, honestly [that’s]
why I play rugby.
Overall, this love of the game itself and the social
components promoted their willingness to play regard-
less of their physical condition.
Meaning of the Sport. The female athletes expressed even
deeper meanings of the sport to their identity, explain-
ing a stronger inclination to stay involved. For example,
one athlete said,
I just grew to love it…I think really just the strategy and
the methodical nature of it works for me. I’m an engi-
neer [major] so kind of like a thinker, so that works for
me. I just like the condence I feel from it. It’s just re-
ally great. My teammates here and all the people that
rugby has brought in that aspect; I can’t imagine col-
lege without it.
Another athlete explained her childhood desire to play
football, which was thwarted by her parents for fear she
would hurt the boys, thus her current participation was
compensation for her previously missed opportunity.
This was something she always wanted to do, and now
she was able to do it. Similarly, another athlete found her
personal satisfaction on the rugby elds. She explained,
I had a really bad eating disorder when I was little. It
took a long time before I was allowed to play sports and
so I’ve always been ghting to do something and rugby
is the epitome of that and every day I feel like I should
belong there. I feel there’s no better place to be.
Taken together these athletes’ newfound condence, oppor-
tunity to play, or feeling of connection encouraged greater
commitment despite any accompanying pain or injury.
Desire to Be on the Field. In addition, athletes explained
being on the eld as one of the perks of participation,
thus they were unwilling to relinquish that opportunity.
As such, they would hide injuries from coaches to avoid
being benched from participation. These athletes felt psy-
chological pain when they were forced to watch from
the bench and pride when they were contributing to the
team’s performance on the eld. As one athlete stated,
There’s a lot of things that we’ll play through jus be-
cause we need to… I can’t explain it…there’s a need to
be there, to be on that eld. It’s hard to watch some-
one else; it’s almost like pride, like you know you can do
what you do and you want to so you want to be part of
that building block.
There were various reasons athletes chose to play and
continue playing through pain and injury, but the over-
all consensus was a passion which stemmed from their
love of the sport and meaning of participation, which
was felt most strongly when they were on the eld as op-
posed to the sideline.
Sport Ethic
Helping the Team. Male and female athletes were willing
to play through an injury or pain to help their team suc-
ceed. While male athletes aimed to limit the damage their
playing or not playing would have on the team, females
Table 1 Experienced Injuries by Gender
Location Male Female
Head concussions concussions
Upper Body dislocated shoulders, snapped collar bone, broken noses dislocated jaw, jammed/broken ngers, broken arm
Lower Body sprained/broken ankles, thigh contusions, torn meniscus sprained ankles, ACL tears
314 Madrigal et al. in The Sport Psychologist 29 (2015)
were more concerned with how their play would bene-
t the team. More specically, male athletes explained
their willingness to play through injury to avoid letting the
teammates down; while also recognizing the possible det-
riments of altered performance if they continued to play.
One male athlete said, “today it was just too much. I could
tell I would have been hurting the team more than help-
ing if I were out there playing.” In contrast, female ath-
letes were more focused on their personal contribution
only, as the following demonstrates: “I feel like when I’m
on the eld I can rally my team. Because we have a really
young team…on the eld I’m much more helpful than o.”
Game Day Sacrifice. Athletes also distinguished be-
tween practices and game day when determining their
willingness to play or not play through pain or injury.
They explained sitting out of practices or less important
games to ensure their readiness to play in more impor-
tant games. They also identied the time of season when
making their decision. One athlete stated, “Yes, I’m play-
ing through [an injury] right now. I have a pretty good
groin strain. But it’s nationals, so what do you do?” An-
other athlete explained it as follows: “If we’re a week
away from national championships, I’m going to be a lit-
tle more honest about how my body is doing as opposed
to the season’s about to end and we’re winding down
with no more big games. Okay. I’ll just deal with it.”
Personality. Other athletes attributed their willingness to
play through pain and injury to their personality. More
specically, a male participant attributed his tough de-
meanor to being military-related, saying, “I think espe-
cially us being like a military academy…we try to at least
tough it out more than most people.” A female athlete
cited her conscientiousness, explaining that she is fo-
cused, knows what she has to do, and therefore she is
willing to get back up and do it again.
Minimize. Interestingly, although all athletes experi-
enced injuries, they tended to downplay the severity or
the gravity of the injury, even claiming to “be lucky.” For
example, one male rugby player said, “I broke my ankle
playing rugby, then I dislocated my shoulder once, just
2 [injuries], I’ve been lucky.” Another male rugby player
said, “A nose isn’t a super big deal. You can have surgery
to get it back to where it was…I’ve broken that [nose].
It’s not that big of a deal. I’m going to break my nose
again.” Although the females in this sample were slightly
less likely to minimize or claim to be lucky (2/5) in com-
parison with the males (4/6), one athlete did say, “most
of my concussions are at the end of the season, so I’ve
been pretty lucky in that sense.” Another cited eight years
with only one major injury as a “good track record.” One
athlete, however, felt that in general females don’t know
how to accurately judge the severity. She said,
Whenever I get injured I try to play through it more than
anything because like it’s just a nagging injury, and it’ll
go away by tomorrow most likely because there’s a dif-
ference between being hurt and injured…. Especially
girls think like an injury is anything that’s hurting, so
I’m like, well, it’s just hampered, so play through it and
if it’s really bad, it’s going to hurt tomorrow. There is no
way to fully tell if you’re hurt or injured unless…you’re
bleeding profusely or like your bone’s broke, or some-
thing. That’s kind of how I dene it.
Another athlete explained that athletes minimize the
severity in their own minds as a hopeful measure. More
specically he said,
I don’t think it’s that they don’t want to be honest with it.
I think they want to not be injured, so then at that time
they’re like ‘um no this isn’t an injury, it will be ne tomor-
row.’ Like if you get kicked in the face, you’re going to be
like crap this hurts but you’ll be ne tomorrow, and I think
that’s how a lot of people go about their actual injuries.
Athletes also explained minimizing their attention
to injuries or pain during play. For example, one ath-
lete stated, “You forget it how it hurts. You’re just so fo-
cused, like it doesn’t matter…Your adrenaline takes over,
or you’re focused on the game.” However, some of the fe-
male athletes specically stated injuries they would not
play through, including head, neck and spine injuries,
and torn ACLs. Taken together, athletes tend to mini-
mize the severity of, or the amount of attention focused
on, pain or injury either because they really deem it to
be inconsequential or in hopes of their denial working as
a self-fullling prophesy, with very few admitting that
there are just some injuries that you should not ignore.
Accepted Behavior. Athletes explained there are accepted
aspects of the sport and required behaviors that follow.
More specically they commented that not being com-
pletely healthy was part of the sport. This mindset and
willingness was also reinforced by teammates. One ath-
lete explained that athletes are called derogatory names
if they choose to sit out. Teammates make it clear that
there are pains you must accept, by recanting stories of
their own experiences with similar injuries. These mo-
ments and stories make it obvious to new players that
you “don’t want to be that guy” who sits out or rests be-
cause of an injury that is deemed “not that bad.”
This notion was further reinforced through coaches
who made their feelings known. For example, “Our coach
always says there is a dierence between being hurt and
injured, and if you’re just hurt, you play through it and,
so, that’s what we all tried to do.” Explaining an alterna-
tive perspective, one female athlete voiced the need for a
change in the culture and the diculties in making that
happen. She said,
In rugby I think there’s such an emphasis on toughness
and playing through …we need to try and make it an en-
vironment where you feel comfortable saying ‘hey I got
this injury’ … but you know I’m going to keep playing
Reasons for Playing Through Pain and Injury in collegiate rugby 315
until I fall on the ground and can’t run anymore so, I
don’t know but I’m going to try and make it so my body
is still working when I’m older.
Clearly it is easier to accept rather than ght the play
through pain mentality as even as this athlete explains
the need for changes, she follows with her admission that
she’ll still play until she falls.
Refraining From Playing Through an Injury
Overwhelmingly, there were more comments related to
reasons athletes would play through pain and injury as
compared with why they would not play. In fact, the only
other two reasons to not play through pain or injury were
because of an external mandate (i.e., coach said no) or
an impact on daily living. Only two male athletes men-
tioned the possible impact on daily living when asked if
there was ever a situation they would not play through
pain. One claimed, “Maybe like when I’m really old. If I’m
still playing when I’m 50 I might, and maybe if it inter-
feres with my job or something, I won’t.” Another male
rugby player cited the external mandate when explain-
ing his situation. He said, “I woke up this morning, and I
tried to get out of bed and then, like just whenever I put
pressure on it, I just couldn’t walk on it…I couldn’t cut
or slow down so coach told me no.” This attitude was not
limited to males, as a female athlete explained,
I pretty much played through it all. I’ve played when
I’ve had stingers. I’ve played with one arm before and I
think … the only thing that has stopped me, like a con-
cussion. I mean I’ve never broken a major bone, but I’ve
chipped bones in my hand and I still get those. I think a
concussion would be the only thing, and that would be
mandatory, my coach wouldn’t put me in at all so that
would be it.
Discussion
The main objectives for this study were to identify
whether rugby truly is as injury laden a sport as previ-
ous research has found and to gain greater insights into
rugby players’ mentality concerning playing through pain
and injury. The ndings clearly conrm the high risk na-
ture of collegiate rugby given the numerous injuries the
participants experienced and/or observed during their
time in the sport, which included everything from con-
cussions to ligament damage, and sprains to breaks. It
could be assumed that the injury or pain itself would
dictate whether one plays or not, but the athletes in this
study expressed numerous reasons for playing through,
with very few reasons provided for sitting out. With re-
gard to sex, overall, there were more similarities than
dierences between the male and female athletes’ mind-
sets; however, the small sample size does not allow for
generalizations. Taken together, the ndings do suggest
an inuential impact of the sport ethic and passion for
sport on behavior and decision making of participants
in this study.
Passion for Sport
The passion these rugby players had for the sport was ev-
ident through comments directed toward the love of the
sport, the meaning the sport had for them, and their de-
sire to be on the eld. The rugby athletes were drawn to
their sport by a, “love of the game.” Athletes in the cur-
rent study mentioned the fun of the game, love of the
sport, and love of their team. Females specically, loved
the hard hitting nature of the game. According to Deci,
Eghrari, Patrick, and Leone (1994) activity valuation is
associated with continued engagement in those activi-
ties. Thus the meaning the sport plays for an athlete can
impact their willingness to keep playing through pain.
Vallerand et al.’s (2003) passion theory also explains
how athletes’ value and love for their sport impacts their
participation. Harmonious passion has been linked with
positive aect when the activity results in positive out-
comes (Vallerand et al., 2003). Therefore, if athletes en-
joys their sporting experience, passion is likely to in-
crease, which motivates their compulsion to play on
(even if injured). Another factor inuencing the passion
for sport is the identity tied with being an athlete (Val-
lerand et al., 2003). Athletes in the current study could
not picture their life without rugby, while others saw the
sport as a welcome representation their prior personal
struggles. Taken together, it is clear that these athletes
felt being a rugby player was part of who they were.
Other athletes have similarly demonstrated the pow-
erful connection they have to their sport and thus their
willingness to play through pain so as not to lose it.
Professional soccer players indicated they would play
through an injury to avoid losing their role and their
ability to play in important games (Roderick & Wadding-
ton, 2000). This too was identied in the current study,
as both male and female athletes were willing to hide
injuries and play through pain to ensure they would be
on the eld come game time. This willingness to push
through at the risk of one’s body has also been identied
in dancers, where obsessive passion was associated with
prolonged suering from chronic injuries and more ri-
gidity in their decision making while injured (Rip, For-
tin, & Vallerand, 2006).
Clearly this is a dangerous approach and must be ad-
dressed with all athletes, who likely explain their will-
ingness as a positive demonstration of their commitment
and passion for the sport, not realizing that it could lead
to further or chronic injury, while simultaneously setting
a negative precedent for others who follow.
Sport Ethic
The sport ethic has been designated in the past as a rea-
son why athletes are so willing to play through pain
and injury (e.g., Nixon, 1993; Roderick, Waddington,
316 Madrigal et al. in The Sport Psychologist 29 (2015)
& Parker, 2000). In the current study, the sport ethic
was clearly demonstrated through athletes’ comments,
thoughts and behaviors. These athletes were willing to
play through pain to help the team. They were willing
to sacrice their bodies to participate in the games. In-
terestingly these behaviors and beliefs were so imbed-
ded that some just saw their willingness as a personal-
ity characteristic, while others did not even recognize
the severity of their injuries. Finally, this belief that one
should play through pain was unquestioned and accepted
as part of the sport they chose to play.
According to the sport ethic, athletes should be tough
and not show signs of weakness, but rather play through
the pain as a way of showing courage and dedication
(Hughes & Coakley, 1991). Both male and female ath-
letes demonstrated their dedication to the team by play-
ing through an injury. Similarly, they explained their
tough and persistent personality traits that helped them
return to play even when hurt and likely were purposely
expressed to avoid looking weak. Finally, their courage
to play in “the big game,” regardless of injury status, is
further evidence of these athletes’ willingness to adhere
to the sport ethic. Liston, Reacher, Smith, and Wadding-
ton (2006) found that non-elite rugby university players
had two codes: (a) willingness to be hurt; and (b) play-
ing when hurt for the good of the team. Based on the cur-
rent study’s ndings, it appears that these may be com-
mon to rugby players overall.
Consistent with previous literature (Nixon, 1996), ac-
ceptance and minimization of injury was evident in both
sexes in the current study. Players indicated experienc-
ing injuries that would appear to be severe, but then ex-
plain them to be unimportant, and describe themselves as
lucky only to have “that” injury. This behavior has been
accepted as necessary in the culture of sports (Nixon,
1996). Roderick, Waddington, and Parker (2000) found
that soccer players were not only willing to play through
their injuries, but they viewed them as less signicant,
and revealed no signicant fear of injury. This mindset
can be very detrimental if diminished fear leads to in-
creased and unnecessary risk taking behaviors.
Practical Implications
A few athletes mentioned refraining from playing if
they had specic injuries (head, neck, spine injuries,
torn ACLs); with very few recognizing implications on
daily living functions now or in their future. In fact, both
males and females explained not wanting their coaches to
know they were injured for fear of being held out of play.
Overall, athletes need to be educated about appropri-
ate levels of passion for sport that do not adversely aect
their health and well-being. Those who have developed
obsessive passion, perhaps reinforced through the sport
ethic of rugby, could be establishing maladaptive habits
in injury prevention and management (Rip, Fortin, & Val-
lerand, 2006). Sport psychology consultants can help ath-
letes develop a more harmonious passion for their sport,
focused on the love of the sport rather than contingencies
attached to it (e.g., how sport inuences their self-es-
teem, popularity due to sport participation, etc.). Fur-
thermore, helping athletes identify an alternate source
of enjoyment beyond their sport would contribute to es-
tablishing a more harmonious passion, while increasing
the likelihood that athletes will better handle situations
when they may have to sit out of sport due to injury or
illness in their future.
An additional suggestion for sport psychology consul-
tants in working with athletes who are passionate about
their sport and thus willing to adhere to the sport ethic
may be creating anticipatory regrets to help them make
more informed decisions. Anticipatory regrets involve de-
liberations over possible regrets one may experience and,
which are addressed in advance of engaging or not en-
gaging in a behavior (Gavanski & Wells, 1989). For ex-
ample, athletes who have played through pain or cer-
tain injuries in the past may present their experiences
to rugby players at the start of the season in an eort to
help them see possible consequences of their choices. A
small portion of athletes in the study mentioned not play-
ing through an injury because of a vicarious learning sit-
uation, and similar experiences can be created for many
more athletes in the future.
This practice also may be followed by discussions re-
garding severity denitions. Athletes in the current study
spoke about severity of injuries, while simultaneously
minimizing their own injuries. Although the ability to
block pain, rather than catastrophize the situation, may
benet athletes in a collision sport, it may also be det-
rimental to the health of athletes. Athletes who are pas-
sionate about their sport and adhere to the sport ethic
may take it to the extreme, and possibly cause unalter-
able damage. These, along with other eorts by sport
psychology consultants may help change the existing cul-
ture of acceptance, which may lead to chronic pain and
injury, to one of greater awareness regarding appropri-
ate and benecial play through pain and injury practices.
Future Studies and Limitations
Although the current study included perspectives from
both male and female collegiate rugby players, the sam-
ple was limited, and generalizations cannot be made.
More specically, the sample was rugby players who
agreed to participate in the study, and whose team qual-
ied for play in the second day of the College National 7’s
tournament. This was a limitation due to missing poten-
tial participants who were eliminated from tournament
play on the rst day. Despite the limitations, the partic-
ipants provided great insights, which will be useful in
developing further studies aimed at better understand-
ing this population and in creating interventions aimed
at changing destructive practices.
Why people play through pain and injury is a weighty
topic for sport psychology consultants, coaches, athletic
trainers, and doctors alike. The sport ethic and passion
seem to be two underlying factors that inuence this be-
havior, and future studies are needed to further explore
Reasons for Playing Through Pain and Injury in collegiate rugby 317
these and additional motives in a variety of contexts, in-
cluding less competitive levels of the sport to see how
and when the beliefs and behaviors are acquired, learned,
reinforced, and maintained in individuals as they prog-
ress to more elite levels of play. In addition, prevention
must be addressed. What do these athletes do to prevent
injuries, and are their practices based on sound empiri-
cal evidence? Who is instructing collegiate rugby players
about prevention, training techniques, and post training
practices to minimize injuries, and are these individuals
qualied to provide such advice?
Conclusion
It is true that athletes must be capable of playing through
some kinds of pain; however little has been done to ed-
ucate collegiate rugby players, and likely other athletes,
about which pains can be ignored, and which pains must
be addressed. Sport medicine and sport psychology can
play pivotal roles in better addressing this culture of risk.
Sport psychology focuses on qualities like mental tough-
ness as benecial to sport performance, and although
mental toughness might increase commitment and work
ethic, it might also increase one’s likelihood of getting
injured, playing injured, and negatively impacting daily
function today and in later life. The recent interest in
consequences of head trauma during one’s playing career
on future brain function and health speak to the impor-
tance of this topic and need for further study (Harmon
et al., 2013). The results of this study demonstrate the
importance of education regarding injury severity, con-
sequences of playing through pain and injury, as well as
preventative techniques for averting injuries and mini-
mizing further damage with existing injuries.
Acknowledgments — This research was funded in part by
the 2013 Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP)
research grant.
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