To help your child avoid sports injuries, the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, and other sports and health organizations offer the following safety tips:
Make sure your child is healthy. Before your child starts playing basketball, she should get a complete sports physical, at which:
She should be tested for strength, flexibility and endurance.
Her overall health should be checked for conditions that might affect her ability to play basketball.
You should discuss with her pediatrician any injuries she may have suffered in the past.
You should alert the pediatrician to any relevant family medical history, especially heart-attacks in men under the age of 50, which could help the doctor spot potential heart problems, which, although rare, could be fatal.
Remember: be sure to tell your child's coach about important medical conditions she may have (asthma, diabetes, food or insect allergies etc.).
Make sure your child is in properly conditioned to play basketball.
Most conditioning-related injuries occur at the beginning of a season when kids are most likely to be out of shape
Many injuries can be prevented if your child follows a regular conditioning program before the season starts for the total body, including upper and lower extremities.
Encourage your child to train to get ready to play basketball, rather than expecting to get in shape simply by playing and practicing. A month before the season begins, he should run or engage in some kind of physical exercise one or twice a week. He should gradually increase the number of workouts to three or four times a week by the time team practices begin.
Make sure your child's coach is qualified. Insist on well-trained coaches. A youth basketball coach should know how to teach proper dribbling, passing, and shooting, position and set plays, be trained in first-aid and have an emergency medical plan [1] in place for reaching medical personnel to treat injuries such as concussions [2], dislocations, elbow contusions, wrist, finger or ankle sprains [3] and fractures.
Make sure that the coach has an emergency information card on your child and every other player. You should also ensure that a person certified in first aid and CPR [4] is present at every game and practice who is ready to immediately respond to any injury, and that a first-aid kit [5] with ice, as well as an automatic external defibrillator [6] is on hand.
Buy your child a mouth guard and make sure she wears it. Mouth guards not only protect the teeth, but the lips, cheeks, and tongue and reduce the risk of such head and neck injuries as concussions [2] and jaw fractures. For more about mouth guards, click here. [7]
Sports injuries are no fun-make sure your child is wearing properly fitting [8] basketball shoes. Basketball shoes should fit snugly, offer support, and have non-skid soles. Poorly fitted shoes, particularly those that allow movement side-to-side, are a major cause of injuries to the feet, knees, and ankles [9]. Avoid hand-me downs that are likely to fit poorly, and may no longer provide adequate shock absorption. (Surprisingly, basketball shoes usually need replacement before the tread on the soles is worn out. For tips on how to know when athletic shoes are worn out, click here [10]. Cotton socks absorb perspiration and also give added support to the foot.
Be sure your child warm ups and stretches [11] Research shows that cold muscles are more injury prone. While a proper warm-up is important for all youth athletes, it is particularly critical during a growth spurt, when your child's muscles and tendons are tight. Experts recommend that your child warm up by:
Doing jumping jacks, jogging or walking in place for 3 to 5 minutes to get the blood moving through the muscles and ligaments.
Then slowly and gently stretch, holding each stretch for 30 seconds.
Inspect the court. The court can pose a risk of injury. A parent or the coach should check to see that:
Outdoor courts are
free of rocks, holes, or any other unsafe conditions. If play is at
night, make sure the court is properly lighted.
Indoor courts are clean, dry, free of debris, and have good traction.
Baskets and boundary lines are not too close to walls, bleachers, water fountains, or other structures.
Goals, as well as the walls behind them, are padded.
Temporary or movable backboards and baskets should be firmly secured prior to play.
Remember: Young children can be severely injured or die in falls from bleachers or entrapment in partially opened bleachers. Never let your child play on bleachers during a basketball game or at practice and always keep her away from the edges of the bleachers.
Insist that your child wears all required safety gear at every practice and game, including:
Knee and elbow pads to protect against scrapes and bruises.
Mouth guards [12] to prevent serious dental injuries.
Protective
eyewear. For kids who wear glasses, you should obtain protective
eyewear from an eye-care professional who is aware of sports-safety
standards, says Dr. Paul Vinger, a clinical professor of ophthalmology
at Tufts Medical School in Boston and head of the Protective Eyewear
Certification Council. Prescription glasses should be fitted with
shatterproof lenses and sports frames that hold the lenses tightly in
place.
Clean uniform. Don't let your child leave his dirty uniform in his locker at school or on the floor of his room. Wearing unsanitary clothing poses a risk of staph infection, not only to your child but the rest of the team.
Make sure she stays hydrated. As parent or coach, you are responsible for taking precautions [13] to heat illnesses [14] in exercising children and making sure they drink enough fluids [15].
Make sure players don't wear jewelry or chew gum.
If the court is
outside, make sure your child's team/club/program has a weather policy.
Guidelines regarding playing or practicing in bad weather, such as lightning storms [16] or extreme heat [17]
should be established well in advance of the season, and followed by
all coaches, players and spectators. In the event of lightning, teach
your child to stay away from open fields, trees, and water and to get
indoors or inside a car, if possible, until the storm passes, and, if
caught out in the open, to lie down and curl up in a fetal position.
User smaller balls for younger kids. Basketballs are available in different sizes and materials. Younger players should use smaller, lighter-weight balls. If your child is under age seven, encourage the league to use smaller, mini-foam or rubber balls. They weigh less and are easier for young players to handle.
Talk to and watch your
child's coach. Coaches should enforce all the rules of the game,
encourage safe play, and understand the special injury risks that young
players face. Coaches should never yell at players or engage in any
other form of emotional abuse [18].
Never allow players to hold, block, push, trip, or charge opponents.
Never
allow players to play through pain. Any persistent pain is a sign of a
chronic (i.e. overuse) or acute injury that should sideline a child
from playing until it subsides. Teach your child not to play through
pain. If your child gets injured, see your doctor. Follow all the
doctor's orders for recovery [19] and get the doctor's (or physical therapist's) OK before allowing your child to play again.
Above all, keep basketball fun. Coaches and parents can prevent physical and emotional injuries [18], by creating an atmosphere of healthy competition and de-emphasizing a "winning-at-all-costs" attitude. Putting too much focus on winning can make your child push too hard, ignore the signs of injury and risk injury by playing in pain.
Links:
[1] https://momsteam.com/node/800
[2] https://momsteam.com/node/130
[3] https://momsteam.com/node/284
[4] https://momsteam.com/node/384
[5] https://momsteam.com/node/798
[6] https://momsteam.com/node/300
[7] https://momsteam.com/node/228
[8] https://momsteam.com/node/683
[9] https://momsteam.com/node/287
[10] https://momsteam.com/node/532
[11] https://momsteam.com/node/543
[12] https://momsteam.com/node/530
[13] https://momsteam.com/node/863
[14] https://momsteam.com/node/866
[15] https://momsteam.com/node/864
[16] https://momsteam.com/node/824
[17] https://momsteam.com/node/282
[18] https://momsteam.com/node/307
[19] https://momsteam.com/node/291