Injury Prevention

Aim of the STOP Sports Injuries campaign is provide parents, coaches and athletes accurate information and tools to prevent, recognize and treat the long-term consequences of sports overuse and trauma injuries to children.

The National Athletic Trainers' Association urges parents, coaches, athletes and administrators to work together to prevent youth sports injuries even before an athlete takes to the playing field.

Static stretching neither prevented or induced injury when compared to not stretching before running, according to the results of a first-of-its-kind large scale randomized study presented at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in San Diego.

Ghosts and goblins arent the only things parents and kids should watch out for this Halloween. Consumer Reports warns that this gruesome holiday is one of the most dangerous nights of the year for pedestrians; and, recently, two candy manufacturers have issued product recalls. 

As the weather turns cooler, a proper warm up before sports becomes even more important for peak performance and injury prevention, says 2-time Olympic cyclist, Erin Mirabella.

Sports injuries are the result of three factors: age, degree of sport specialization, and training intensity:

With spring sports beginning for over 40 million young athletes,  the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) has ten tips for parents, coaches, and administrators to help prevent injuries and ensure a safe and successful season.

Nearly $30 million a year would be saved in hospital charges if early rather than delayed ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) reconstruction surgery was performed on pediatric patients, according to a study presented at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) 2010 Annual Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island.  Additionally, more than 7,300 tears to the meniscus and 7,800 cartilage tears in children could be avoided each year in the U.S. by early ACL surgery.

A lot has been written about the subject of stretching and flexibility in sports. Studies abound on the effects of flexibility on muscular strength, joint motion, and injury prevention, but the picture seems to become more muddled with every passing day, with even the conventional wisdom that static stretching improves flexibility over resistance training recently called into question. But the fact remains: stretching improves flexibility, a foundation for athletic success.