Unravelling why some kids are more at risk of sports injuries and what we can do about it

Abstract

For this presentation I will be addressing the issue of injuries which occur in youth athletes and discuss some strategies which may help the medical practitioners and coaches deal with these complex problems. The literature regarding injuries in youth athletes can be described as sparse. The main bulk of the literature is for soccer and covers mainly the U16-U18 year age-groups, very little covers athletes younger than this. There is little information regarding injuries occurring in young athletes involved in Olympic sports. The presentation will explore different injuries specific to immature athletes and how these problems can have an effect on their general sporting development. There are a number of factors which are thought to have contributing influences in the occurrence of injury in youth athletes. These include growth and maturation, training load and the recruitment process. It is unlikely that any one of these factors is the main causation of injury but more a combination of them all, in different ways, for specific individuals or different sports.