Life isn’t fair.

    Autumn Fenwick had done her part. She had worked, battled and was prepared for her senior year as part of the Pocatello girls’ soccer team.

    The first time I ever saw her take the pitch, Fenwick chipped in three goals as the Indians routed the Burley Bobcats 8-0 on Aug. 17.

    On that day, Fenwick made it look easy. In truth, it only appeared that way because of the way she had pushed to develop her game from an early age.

    Fenwick’s senior year should have been her crowning moment — the highest achievement of her soccer athletic career.

    “It’s my last season; I want to make the best of it,” Fenwick said after the Indians’ first game of the season.

    “I’m hoping we can get together and go to state maybe, because we haven’t in the past,” Fenwick said. “All my years we haven’t. So I’m excited about that.”

    In Pocatello’s second game against Skyline on Aug. 18, she injured her knee and hasn’t played since.

    In her absence, the Indians — winners of three-straight games, after losing 11 straight — have struggled to fill the void left by Fenwick’s absence.

    “She’s often led our attack for the last couple of years,” said Pocatello head coach Doug Merkley. “That’s been hard for us to try and bounce back after that.”

    And Fenwick is relegated to watching from the sidelines.

    Up the road in Blackfoot, Chance Jensen is a senior defensive end for the Broncos’ football team, the defending 4A state champions and the No. 1 team in the state.

    Last Friday night  — as Smith was helping his team win its 17th straight game, beating Bonneville 45-21 — he hurt his foot.

    Later that night, it was reported that he broke it.

    “Your senior year ... it’s disheartening for them because this is it for those guys,” said Blackfoot head coach Stan Buck. “It’s what they look forward to. (Think about) how hard they’ve worked, and now they don’t get to finish their season.”

    Football is a physical game, we know this.

    But who among us puts in the sweat and quite literally the blood, to reach our final season only to miss parts of it because of an injury?    

    Certainly, Jensen and Fenwick are only two examples of kids who walk onto athletic fields, heads swimming with all the triumphs they’re about to embark on, thinking nothing can stop them — until reality hits like ice water to the face.

    I feel for these kids. If only because I can sympathize with their situations.

    I, too, missed most of my senior season with an injury.

    Life, my team and the game moved on without me, as it always does. Yet, there I was watching from the sidelines, part of everything taking place but no closer than an arm’s length.

    It’s important to keep life events like these in perspective. Jensen and Fenwick have their entire lives in front of them, and so do all the rest of the athletes who go down with various injuries this year.

    All of them will learn one overarching lesson.

    Life isn’t fair. Neither is sports.