Soccer Injury Prevention

Soccer injury prevention strategies are important regardless of the age or sex of the player.The biggest difference is going to be age and physical development.

Younger kids under ten years old tend to get more of the bumps and bruises from falls and banging into each other.

As kids grow and their body changes they become awkward, stiff and lose flexibility in their movement. This is why it is important for them to foam roll, perform active stretches (active warm up) and complete a dynamic warm up. It is also important for coaches and players to know the appropriate type and timing of stretches

Coaches must continuously focus on skill and technique development. Proper skill development promotes good function of body mechanics and this aids in avoiding soccer injuries.

It is important for the player to develop proper motor skills (brain to muscle communication)for long term development.

Regardless of the training or teaching, soccer is a collision sport that exposes players to stresses on different body structures and tissues. Players will get hurt and that is inevitable. Thus it is important to develop strategies to avoid soccer injuries during training or playing.

One thing I find players, parents and coaches overlook for soccer injury prevention are yearly physicals by their family physicians.

I also believe that players, parents and coaches take equipment lightly because soccer players wear minimal protective equipment. For example how many soccer players are instructed to wear a mouthguard

Finally it is important to know that females as young as 12 CAN suffer from an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury.