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What is the likelihood of Injury?
A common concern is that younger kids may be more susceptible to severe injuriesbefore they have fully developed. Is there a greater risk of arm damage for kids whostart pitching at age of 7 instead of waiting until they are 9? Should kids avoidtackle football until the reach a certain age? Does specialization in an individualsport increase the risk of injury for that child due to overuse and make them moresusceptible to continuous motion injuries?
Injuries are certainly a concern for all of us and the risk of injury is considereda growing problem by many experts. According to the  KidsÂ' Health supplement in theOctober 18-20, 2002 weekend edition of USA Today, there are over 3.5 million sportsrelated injuries that require treatment reported each year for kids under 15 yearsold. Many of these injuries are from playground equipment, bike riding and otheractivities, but organized youth sports certainly contribute to the total.Fortunately, there are very few deaths, but the information suggests that 40% of allsports related injuries occur in children under 14 years old and more than half ofthose injuries take place in practices instead of games. In 2002, from informationaccumulated from the  Connecticut Safe Kids Sports/Recreation Activity Injury FactSheet .
While this data is certainly misleading and flawed because it doesnÂ't break down thenumber of participants in each sport, the frequency of the activity or the severityof the injury, it does demonstrate that injuries are something we should payattention to.
Types of Injuries
In the newsletter published by the Yale-New Haven ChildrenÂ's Hospital, pediatricianDeiter Lindskog, MD exclaims that the largest increase in youth sports injuries aredue to repetitive use. He states  Recent studies estimate that 30 to 50 percent ofpediatric sports injuries are caused by overuse, with the frequency of injury equalamong boys and girls. Because theyÂ're still not fully developed, kids are moresusceptible to repetitive use problems like stress fractures, caused by use withoutenough recovery time, growth plate injuries, due to excess strain, and soft tissuedamage to muscles, tendons or ligaments.This would lead to the question of  how much is too much? The research on this isnÂ'tclear at all. With increased specialization where kids participate in only one sportyear round, start playing at a younger age and participate in multiple leagues atonce, what is clear is that many are crossing that unknown line. In baseball, astudy created in 1996 and updated in 2004 by USA Baseball Medical & Safety AdvisoryCommittee Position Statement on Youth Baseball Injuries developed a standard forrest based on pitch counts:
While there is a tremendous amount of flexibility in these recommendations, the mainissue is that care should be taken to watch for signs of trouble. There is noevidence to suggest a higher injury rate for Pony League Baseball, which oftenstarts kids pitching at age 7, when compared to Little League Baseball, which oftenstarts kids pitching at age 9.
Studies done with Pop Warner Football players also show that there is a risk ofinjury, but surprisingly, younger players are less likely to be injured than olderplayers. Supported by studies done by the Institute of Sports Medicine and AthleticTrauma in New York which completed a study in 71 towns covering 5,000 players, thePop Warner Website (www.popwarner.com) states that because of the weightrestrictions  injuries in youth football are normally mild and older players have ahigher injury rate than younger players.Â
Conclusion
As people involved in youth sports we need to be aware of safety and injury risksassociated with the children we watch. Kids specializing in single sports or playingin multiple leagues have exacerbated the risk of repetitive motion  overuse injuries. We need to be especially aware for these young athletes and be cognizantof the warning signs. Some things to watch for include pain, changes in gait orother observable behavior, changes in performance and psychological effects. Kidsshould not be encouraged to play through any real injury because they donÂ't want tolet down their parents or teammates even though they may feel like they can do it.
We want to help prevent injuries through proper training and conditioning. An effortcan be made to have children compete at levels commensurate with their skill so thatthey donÂ't overdo it. Furthermore, efforts must be made to teach proper fundamentalsfor all aspects of the game since mechanical errors are more likely to lead to flawsthat can cause injury. Because practice makes permanent, it is crucial to work onthese fundamentals even at an early age. As youth sports enthusiasts, we all have anobligation to take care of the kids.
