Tips to Prevent Youth Sports Injuries

As the fall approaches, kids, parents, and coaches are beginning to look towards the upcoming sports seasons, including rec sports such as soccer and little league and high school sports such as football and cross country. With training kicking into full gear for these sports, an issue that should concern parents and coaches alike is the preventions of injuries. After a long summer off, it is easy for kids to get over-exerted, over-zealous, and reckless when participating in their respective sports. Here are some tips for keeping it an injury-free fall of good sports.

The first thing to remember when training for fall sports is to keep hydrated. Surprisingly, this is overlooked by many coaches even though it is the most important aspect of sports training to remember. For parents, this means that packing extra water for your kids and even having cold water waiting when you pick them up. Coaches, this means having water readily available to your athletes. In sports such as football and cross country, this is a crucial point. With football, the pads that athletes wear can insulate heat and make heat injuries more prevalent. With cross-country, it is really important because of the sustained physical activity.

The next point to remember is over-exertion. While heat injuries can fall into this category, this is more in relation to younger children and the way they are exercised. In rec sports, coaches and parents should remember that the key word is "rec." Recreation. The kids are doing it for fun. To push them too hard in practice or in games is risking injury and mental stress.

Another aspect of youth sports is intensity and how it relates to the developing body. Your child is going to continue to develop until they are about seventeen or eighteen, in this time, their muscles and bones are growing and are susceptible to the stress put on them by intense sports. One sport that this is especially important to consider is youth football. While many leagues focus more on play and less on the mechanics of the game, there are still teams out there that focus on hitting and how to get hit. Coaches need to take into consideration that they are teaching high impact game play to young people. If this is sustained, children's musculature and skeletal systems can incur damage. Limit the amount of hitting that is being done and focus more on the finer points of the game such as passing, catching, and running plays.

Finally, preventative measures can be taken to prevent the above injuries and others. In running, an excellent preventative measure is icing your legs after particularly grueling workout. This keeps swelling down and gets you ready for the following day's workout. Another thing to remember is that if you are nursing an injury, allow it the proper time to heal. Practicing hurt can lead to much worse, much more debilitating injuries.

Parents and coaches need to be proactive in helping prevent injuries. As kids get older it becomes more their responsibility, but in early years, adults need to keep an eye on young athletes, as there sole responsibility is to the love of the game.