Your son is a truly special person Dianne. It takes a lot of courage to go against the crowd at 12 and show that kind of loyalty and strength of character to do what's right.

Would he be able to talk to his friend about how he's feeling? If they've been best mates since Grade 4 could your DS explain that he wants to hang around with him, support him etc but he also wants to play sport every now and then too. His friend might not realise how it's affecting your DS and might be quite ok with him playing sport at times and spending time with him at other times. How long does he have to wear the brace? It's usually quite a while I think so your DS might be able to talk about that. He's not just giving up sport for a few weeks. This could be a situation that goes on for months and if your DS keeps going the way he is it will cause problems in the friendship down the track. I'm not sure how he tactfully and supportively discusses that with his friend but if sport is off the menu for a while, they will have to re-negotiate their relationship. Sometimes it's better to do that overtly from the outset rather than wait.

I also thought of getting the friend involved from the sidelines.

It's a tough situation and will depend on the maturity of his friend too I think. I hope he can resolve it so that everyone is reasonably comfortable.