Every parent’s nightmare is when a doctor states your child has an incurable illness. When Karen Kramer’s son was sixteen years old, their doctor sadly told them he had a degenerative bone disease of the back and knees. At the time, Karen did not realize her child had joined the growing ranks of young athletes with “over-use” sports injuries.
Over the past two decades, the age for a child to join little league baseball has changed from second grade to kindergarten. Today, 4 year olds not only limit themselves to one sport at a time, like T-ball for example, but also play a wide range of sports including swimming, soccer, gymnastics, and roller hockey.
Physical therapists are treating younger and younger patients for a rarity of physical ailments. These types of injuries occur in male dominated sports like Baseball, Basketball, and Soccer. However, girls are not exempt from sports injuries. Young girls injure themselves while participating in Ballet, Gymnastics, and Swimming.
Orthopedic surgeons and experts on sports injuries agree there has been a dramatic increase in the number of “over-use” injuries in adolescents and children who play one competitive sport all year long. One way to avoid this type of injury is to have your young athletic participate in three to four different sports each year.
It is the responsibility of parents to protect their child. When signing your youngster up to play sports, the following questions will help keep your child safe.
(1) Has your child received a full medical screening to rule- out any under lying medical conditions before beginning to play a sport?
(2) Is there a fully loaded first aid kit at every practice and game? Does it have an adequate supply of ice packs for strains and bruises?
(3) Are the coaches and volunteers properly certified in First Aid and CPR through American Red Cross?
(4) Does the coach allow adequate time for warm-ups and stretching? Are you stressing warm-ups with your child?
(5) Does the league provide state of the art equipment? Have you purchased high support athletic footwear to prevent injuries to foot, ankle, and knee? For children who wear eyeglasses, do you ensure they wear sports goggles at all practices and games?
(6) What type of training did the coach receive? Are there helpful parent volunteers working with the coaching staff?
Experts recommend that only qualified sports coaches be involved with supervising young athletes. Every training session should include a warm up, instruction in correct techniques, and avoidance of high intensity training.
Try to avoid highly competitive sports teams where the coaches and parents are doing everything to win. This environment increases the risk for injuries. Instead, get your child involved with teams designed for fun and developing a healthy attitude towards fitness. These teams and activities will help every child create a life long love for sports and good health. By following these recommendations, your family will help create a safe sports environment, naturally reducing the quantity of sports injuries.
Have a great summer!
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