Youth Sports are a fantastic way to give kids a chance to learn valuable life skills, provide an outlet of stress and anxiety from educational and social stressors, and provide a sense of belonging to a collective group.
There are so many valuable benefits and positives to participation in youth sports. We must though be aware of the demands being placed on the player. These are still kids, in bodies still developing and growing.
Stress, whether it be emotional, psychological or physical, can be detrimental to the body and can lead to weaknesses throughout the boy which can then lead to an increase in the incidence and severity of injuries. Such injuries even at a youth age can end the participation in certain sports for kids, and prevent them from going on to play at higher levels or later in life.
Great Video on Overuse Injuries – https://youtu.be/L9Hg201U26g
Poor Practice
When playing a sport, you need to be fit for that discipline, fitness work should be specific to the activity and demands being placed on the body. Soccer is not played on an incline, nor with weights around ankles, and I’m still yet to see a player run around in circles around the outside of the field. The fitness work needs to be specific to the distances, speeds, and duration of work within the game, and appropriate to the movements and skills set performed. There is also a need for coaches to differentiate between low fitness levels and fatigue. Extensive training to a fatigued player puts them at a risk of higher incidence of injury, often it’s rest that is needed not more sprints.
Tournaments
The main reason for injuries is overuse. Overuse weakens the active muscles which protect and support the body, and once weakened the incidence is increased. We now have tournaments (Invitationals and Showcases) that offer 6 games in 3 days, that’s half a season in one weekend. The highest level of professional players who play and train for a living will at most play 6 games in 4 weeks in major tournaments, so why do we put young amateur athletes in this environment? Recently a club had to pull a team from league play due to a number of players sustaining ACL injuries from tournament play during the summer months. Ligament injuries are not the only injuries sustained from overuse, as the muscles weaken the player is unable to avoid collisions and reckless challenges, both of which can cause additional injuries other than soft tissue.
Injuries can happen in any sport at any time, and even when going about your normal day. The benefits to participation in sport greatly outweighs those for not playing. Proper attention to the players needs is important, accountability on coaches actions needs to be addressed, and keeping youth soccer specific to youth players is paramount. Together we can all enjoy the experiences and lessons learned through youth sports, and ultimately ensure the kids have fun while learning.