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Over 3.5 million youth sports injuries occur each year, yet the majority of these incidents can be easily prevented by taking precautionary steps. Here are six tips on how to help children avoid injuries while participating in any youth sports program:

• Monitor daily/weekly activity to avoid overuse – Each year, as many as half of all youth sports injuries are the result of overuse. Overuse injury, which happens over time from repeated motion (such as throwing a baseball too many times), is completely preventable by implementing variety, moderation and rest during practices and games. Bones and muscles are still under development in children, and overuse leads to 1.25 million injuries that require medical treatment annually.

• Stretch Properly – Warm-up exercises, such as stretching and light jogging, can help minimize the hazard of strain and soft tissue injury. Stretching prepares the muscles for physical activity and allows blood to flow through them. Once a game or practice is complete, cooling down exercises loosen the body’s muscles that may have tightened during the exercise. Encourage both “warm-ups” and “cool-downs.”

• Don’t play through pain or injuries – Respecting the healing process and your body’s wishes is absolutely essential. When there are aches and pains, it’s your body’s way of telling you to slow down. Playing through pain greatly increases the risk of further injury and extends the recovery time.

• Use proper footwear – Approximately 1 million ankle injuries occur each year, and 85 percent of them are sprains. In addition to stretching properly, the shoes an athlete wears can make a world of difference in preventing sprains or other ankle and foot injuries. Most studies suggest that wearing tightly-laced, high-topped shoes is most beneficial.

• Stay hydrated – Children produce more heat during exercise than adults, yet they actually sweat less – which increases the risk of dehydration. Dehydration can lead to heat-related illnesses such as heatstroke, cramps, etc. Young athletes need to drink plenty of water before games and practices as well as during them. Make sure your child takes frequent water breaks.

• No matter what the sport, wear a mouth guard – Mouth guards are effective in the prevention of minor injuries to the teeth, lips, tongue, face and jaw. Furthermore, mouth guards can help prevent serious injuries to the brain (concussions) and roots and bone that hold the teeth in place. If you need convincing, consider this – in 1962, mouth guards became a requirement for high school and college football. Consequently, the percentage of mouth injuries dropped by over 50 percent annually.

For more ways to keep your child safe in youth sports, please  visit our i9 Sports Blog for more details and find a local youth sports league near you today!

Back when we were growing up it seemed there was only a small array of sports from which kids could choose to play. Nowadays we as parents together with our kids have a host of activities in which to participate. The question is should we allow our children to pick one sport to be really good at or should they learn the skills and rules of several activities while also exercising other muscles?

My son has been playing soccer for almost four years. He loves the sport and—me being his somewhat biased mother—he’s really good at it. He plays it for about eight months out of the year. During the other four months, however, he chooses other games to play such as basketball and flag football. We feel it’s important to ‘broaden his horizons’ if I may be so cliché and we’ve noticed that different kinds of training have enhanced his skills on the soccer field.

There appears to be some merit to this philosophy. In an article written by Tim Alan Kauppinen and featured on ConsumerHealthDigest.com there are potential risks involved with specializing in one sport at an early age. Kauppinen, aka “Coach K” has more than 20 years of experience as an athlete and coach and has worked with athletes of all ages and abilities. There are four dangers of specialization, according to Coach K.

Overuse injuries—working the body in the same way repeatedly year-round can lead to overuse injuries. Different sports utilize different parts of the body leading to better overall athletic performance. Pediatricians agree that children should participate in a variety of physical activities.

Burn out—playing one sport day in and day out for several years can lead to burn out at an early age. Taking part in other sports provides some relief from the same ol’ thing and at the same time can keep the main sport interesting, challenging and fun.
The college scholarship myth—in fact only a very small percentage of young athletes actually earn a scholarship. Contrary to popular belief, most college recruiters are looking for the best all-around athletes, says Coach K.

Not achieving your full athletic potential—by focusing on only one sport children don’t develop other skills that would benefit their performance in their primary activity. Speed, balance, mental focus, jumping, twisting are emphasized differently in other sports, thereby resulting in a better soccer player (in the case of my son) for example.

What do you think about sports specialization? Does your child focus on one sport for the majority of the year? If he or she participates in other activities, what are they? For more information on sport specialization for your child, please visit http://i9sports.com