For those of you who've spent any time at all on my website, or reading some of my past newsletters, you know that I'm kind of like a "dog with a bone" when it comes to this whole injury prevention issue- especially as it pertains to young athletes. The way I figure it, if it's enough of a concern to give birth to a nation wide initiative like the
STOP Sports Injuries campaign, it's probably something that's worth talking about. Factor in some absolutely mind-blowing statistics, such as a 400% surge in ACL injuries among young athletes over a recent 5 year period and you've got what I consider to be a pretty serious problem on your hands. Or, at least, so it would seem. The sad fact of the matter is that despite the efforts of organizations like STOP and the
International Youth Conditioning Association, this message still doesn't seem to be getting through to enough people.
As evidence of the lack of attention currently being paid to injury prevention, I offer the example of a few recent presentations that I gave for various youth sports organizations. One, which had me paired with a noted sports nutritionist, as well as a physical therapist, was outright cancelled due to poor turnout. This despite the fact that flyers for the seminar had been sent out to in upwards of a thousand parents, coaches and physical educators! In all fairness though, this event did take place on a weeknight- a time that most parents of young athletes will be quick to inform you qualifies as "prime real estate" from a scheduling standpoint.
This does not, however, explain more subpar turnout at a recent youth sports convention that I presented at. This event, which took place over the course of a weekend, was literally crawling with hundreds of parents, coaches and athletes- all of whom had a vested interest in exactly what I was speaking about. Making matters worse was the fact that numerous e-mails containing the event's complete itinerary had been sent out before hand. These e-mails even went so far as to include detailed descriptions of exactly what my presentations would entail. And yet, two hour-long presentations on each day, still only brought in about as many people as you could count on two hands!
Now granted, perhaps some of this lackluster turnout had to do with me. After all, not everyone wants to give up their free time listening to an Eric Cantor look-alike rail about the importance of proper warm-up protocols and age appropriate conditioning strategies. I totally get that. The more likely explanation, though, is that the majority of parents, coaches and athletes just don't consider this to be a big enough problem! For instance, I can tell you for a fact that most parents who seek out my services are either looking for a way to help bring their child's game to the next level, or want to expedite the process of rehabbing from some sort of injury. Few ever look to hire me as any sort of
preventative measure- regardless of the toll that things like early specialization and near year-round practice and competition schedules place on developing young bodies.
That's exactly why I'm so relentless when it comes to spreading this message! Because the truth is, if we're ever really going to get a handle on this injury problem in youth sports, we need to start being more
pro-active and less re-active. So, to help get the ball rolling in the right direction, I've created the following action list for parents and coaches.
1. Get on your kids about the importance of doing the right kinds of warm-ups, stretching and strengthening drills to help reduce their risk of injury. Here are some great resources if you don't know where to start:
2. Take every opportunity you can to help educate your athletes about the severity of the problem. Coaches: do you have regular discussions with your athletes about what they can do to reduce their risk of injury? Do you hand out informational tip sheets? If not, the STOP Sports Injuries Campaign offers free downloads of
injury prevention tip sheets for every sport you can imagine and even has sets of printed copies available for a nominal fee.
3. Stress the need for more recovery and regeneration. Just because they have the resiliency of youth on their side doesn't mean that young athletes are immune to things like fatigue, soreness and burnout. Scheduling regular breaks during the competitive season, as well as encouraging post activity static stretching (especially if over the age of about 14) and
foam rolling are great ways to help kids recover from intensive training and sports participation.
4. Don't overlook the nutritional component! A well hydrated, properly fueled athlete is much less prone to injury. Make sure your kids are
drinking enough water before, during and after physical activity. In addition, don't allow them to either skip meals, or indulge in heavy, fat laden foods like pizza, or french fries prior to sports participation. Eating these types of foods in the period leading up to physical activity can cause digestive problems, as well as limit blood flow to working muscles.
As the parent of a young athlete you can no longer just sit idly by and assume that your son, or daughter's coach is making injury prevention the priority it needs to be. This is not meant to demonize coaches in any way; most already have enough on their plates and are not always qualified to deal with the intricacies of training for injury prevention. That's why it's so crucial for you to step up and help assume some of the responsibility. Let's face it, this is a problem that isn't going away any time soon. The only way to make any real inroads towards improving the situation is to take a more active role in our children's sports pursuits.
Until then, expect a lot more noise out of me. Because this dog has no intention of letting go of this bone until things start to take a major turn for the better!
