Girls' Sports are Tough ...

                                               ... And girl athletes are tougher. But do they need to be? My head was still reeling from the article in the NY Times that talked about girls being more vulnerable to concussions than boys (NY Times, Oct 2nd, 2007), when I overheard the following story at my daughter's soccer game.

Turns out one of the team parents took their older daughter to the ER at Morristown Memorial Hospital after she blew out her knee during a soccer game. When they arrived at the hospital, the waiting room was filled with 25 kids in soccer uniforms, about 22 of whom were girls, according to the mom. When it was their turn to see the doctor, the mom told the doctor she couldn't believe how crowded the waiting room was with all the soccer injuries. The doctor's response? "This is just a typical Saturday afternoon -- overflowing with girls with concussions, knee and ankle injuries."

Parents, if you think your daughters need to be playing "this tough," think again. Young athletes, whether boys or girls, do not need to get hurt in youth sports. This is one of those gaps in common sense: parents believe that getting injured is all part of the sports experience, when in reality, 90% of injuries to kids playing sports are preventable.

If your son's or daughter's team is plagued with injuries, you need to look at what's not being done to prevent players from getting hurt:

• Is it the coaches? Are they properly trained? Are they training the kids properly? Do they have a "win at all costs mentality"? Are they pushing kids beyond their ability?
• At higher levels of competition, does the team have a trainer who is building up the players' strength and agility in order to minimize injury?
• Are the kids suffering from overuse injuries -- are they being stretched too thin, too soon?
• Are the field/facility conditions causing unnecessary injuries? Is the weather a contributing factor?
• Lastly, is there an emergency plan in place to handle injuries promptly? Sometimes a few minutes can make the difference between life and death when a catastrophic injury occurs.

Take a look at how your child's team is being managed and make sure the team's well-being is the number one priority. Just because the coaches are "good people" doesn't always mean they have your child's best interest and future in mind.

Comments

[Char]

Great post! Sports should be fun and provide an outlet for fitness, and while accidents do happen, there is so much that can be done to prevent a lot of the injuries.