Abstract
The involvement of pre-adolescents in soccer is becoming more and more frequent, and this growing participation generates some concerns about the potential factors for sports injuries. The purpose of this study was to investigate sports injuries in younger (U9–U11) and older (U12–U13) children playing soccer at an elite level, analyzing potential anthropometric and maturity risk factors. A total of 88 elite soccer players aged 9–13 years were investigated. Weight, stature, and sitting height were measured at the start and at the end of the competitive season, computing the relative growth velocities. Additional body composition parameters were taken during a second survey. Maturity offset was calculated using predictive equations based on anthropometric traits such as years from age at peak height velocity (YPHV). Injuries suffered during the competitive season were recorded. Maturity and some anthropometric characteristics were significantly different according to the presence or absence of injuries among the players. Multiple logistic regression revealed that YPHV, body mass index (BMI), and calf muscle area were the factors most significantly correlated with injuries. Players with increased BMI, with decreased calf muscle area, and who were closer to their peak height velocity, were at a higher risk of injury. Findings showed that a monitoring program of anthropometric characteristics taking into account the maturational stage needs to be developed to prevent injuries.
Highlights
Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world, and it is especially enjoyed by children and teenagers
Our findings demonstrate a trend in the incidence of injuries with age and biological maturity (PHV), as well as an association of some anthropometric characteristics with the risk of injuries in young elite soccer players
This study highlights the remarkable effect of biological maturity, assessed in terms of peak height velocity (PHV) and anthropometric variables, on the injury occurrence of elite young soccer players
Summary
Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world, and it is especially enjoyed by children and teenagers. Given its nature as a high-intensity contact sport, soccer is associated with a great injury risk, which makes it a target sport for injury prevention [7,8]. For this reason, it is fundamental to analyze the factors related to injury occurrence in soccer players, especially in elite and sub-elite players, as they usually result in a considerable amount of time loss from training and matches and represent a significant economic burden for the health care system [1,9]. Previous studies analyzed the risk factors and the rate of injuries in adult elite soccer players, both males [7] and females [10], but there is a paucity of studies focusing on injury rate and modalities in children and adolescents [1,11]
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