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8 tips to prevent injury in kids' sports

Fall sports season is in full swing now and many parents’ nights and weekends are spent on the sidelines of their child’s game. Whether they play soccer or lacrosse or even dance, your primary concern as a parent is to keep them safe while they are doing something they love. While all injuries are not avoidable, Dr. Theodore Ganley, director of the Sports Medicine and Performance Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has some tips on injury prevention for parents, coaches and even kids themselves.

Fall sports season is in full swing now and many parents' nights and weekends are spent on the sidelines of their child's game. Whether they play soccer or lacrosse or even dance, your primary concern as a parent is to keep them safe while they are doing something they love. While all injuries are not avoidable, Dr. Theodore Ganley, director of the Sports Medicine and Performance Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has some tips on injury prevention for parents, coaches and even kids themselves.

"We feel so strongly about prevention at CHOP," said Dr. Ganley. "There has been a high growth in kids' sports both female and male and as a result, we see an increase in injury."

According to Ganley, there has been an increase of 40% in ACL injuries at CHOP and they are seeing overuse injuries as well as the acute ones. "It is not just celebrity athletes that are experiencing these type of injuries," he said.

To help educate parents, coaches and kids more, CHOP started injury prevention programs at their Sports Medicine and Performance Center. The first one focused on ACL injuries, but now they have multiple programs. Their "Concussion Care for Kids: Minds Matter" is a program for concussion prevention and "Ready. Set. Prevent." is a program that teaches kids proper stretching, strengthening and plyometrics (jump training).

Traditionally sports have been categorized as "contact" or "noncontact" sport, but Dr. Ganley sees a finer distinction between them. Tackling sports like football and rugby, he considers "collision" sports, while he would classify soccer, basketball and lacrosse as "contact" sports. He even has a category for extreme sports like motorcycling racing and as he said, "anything with ramps."

"Here in America, we tend to go to extremes with everything even sports," he added. "Kids today are bigger, stronger and faster and therefore experience more injuries."

The thing you have to keep in mind though, he said, is that statistically an adolescent girl who plays multiple sports year round is at more of a risk for injury than say a football player. He explains that while in football collisions are a part of the game play, coaches prepare their players for how to properly take a hit and they only have maybe 14 games a year. It has to do more with the athlete exposure rate. A child who plays a sport every day is more prone to injury.

The most common acute injuries are fractures, dislocations (shoulder, knee cap), cartilage injury (meniscus tear), and ligament and tendon injuries like an ankle sprain. Osteochronditis dissecans (OCD) is a condition in which the bone inside a joint softens. Although rare in general population, it is more common in kids ages 12 to 19. For example, a gymnast might experience multiple microtraumas on her elbows because of repetitive motions.

Dr. Ganley offers these 8 tips to reduce the likelihood of injury.

1) Get a pre-season physical to make sure there are no health concerns to worry about.

2) Properly warm up before practice and game.

3) Get proper rest between sports.

4) Make sure you are getting proper nutrition.

5) Stay hydrated.

6) Proper and well-fitting sports equipment is important. Don't leave the helmets and knee guards collecting dust in the garage.

7) Coaches need to emphasize proper technique in sports. Performing the moves correctly will mean less stress on the body.

8) Recognize injury and respond in timely manner.

Dr. Ganley truly believes that education is the cornerstone of injury prevention. In their "Ready. Set. Prevent" program they try to present their safety message in a way children can connect to.

"Because kids feel like they will live forever and not get injured, we focus on how their strength and performance will improve through our prevention program. That is where their interest lies," he said.

Center for Sports Medicine and Performance at CHOP has a lot of helpful free resources online for coaches, parents and kids. You can help spread awareness by sharing the videos, flyers and other resources with your child's sports leagues and school.

Read more Sports Doc for Sports Medicine and Fitness.