Safety Issues in Sports

According to the National Center for Sports Safety, "More than 3.5 million children ages 14 and under receive medical treatment for sports injuries each year." Although there is no way to prevent all sports-related injuries, understanding safety issues and adhering to safety guidelines can cut down on their frequency and severity.

Equipment

• Make sure that you have all of the proper safety equipment for your respective sport. Helmets, mouth guards, goggles, shin guards, elbow, wrist, shoulder and knee pads are all necessary safety pieces that reduce the risk of injury. Using the wrong, impartial, or ill-fitting equipment is a major cause of injury. Having the right equipment is just as important as having the right-fitting equipment. Make sure that you are wearing the proper footwear and that it fits properly. Footwear or equipment that is worn out or defective should be discarded immediately.

Warm-Up

• It is important to prepare muscles, joints and tendons for strenuous activity. An adequate warm-up prior to competition is necessary to get blood and heat flow to the body, particularly to those muscles that will be activated for your sport. After warming up the muscles, they need to be stretched. Tight, cold muscles are more susceptible to injury.

Instruction

• It is important that players receive proper instruction before attempting an athletic action. Coaches have a responsibility to assist in the safety of their athletes by ensuring that they have received proper, thorough instruction before stepping onto the field of play. The risk of injury increases when players do not know where to go, what to do, or how to do it. Coaches must demonstrate a skill and then allow athletes to practice in non-game conditions. According to Dr. Richard P. Borkowski, author of "Coaching for Safety, A Risk Management Handbook for Coaches," "The repetition of fundamental skills is one of the major and often neglected ways to lower risk."

Hydration

• Dehydration can lead to serious injuries and even death. Getting adequate water throughout the game, match, or competition is essential to injury prevention and overall safety. Hot and humid conditions create even more complications as they impede the body's cooling mechanism. The skin is the main regulator of body temperature. When playing in hot and/or humid conditions, necessary sports equipment may not expose enough skin to adequately cool the body. Young athletes are even more at risk since their bodies do not adapt as well under adverse conditions. Athletes should not wait until they are thirsty to drink water; by then it is already too late.

Head Injuries

• If you have suffered an injury or suspect an injury, make sure that you are fully healed before stepping back onto the court, field, slope or track. Playing through an injury that is not fully healed, while valiant, puts you at risk for an even more serious injury. If you have suffered any type of injury to the head, through a fall, collision with another player, or contact with a ball or piece of equipment, you may have a concussion. Concussions are serious and can lead to brain damage, particularly for those who sustain multiple concussions. If you suffer an injury to the head, stop immediately and get checked out by a doctor or trainer.

Practices

• Practices should be treated exactly like games. Whatever safety equipment is used and precautions and routines employed during games should be the same in practice sessions. According to the National Center for Sports Safety, "Most organized sports related injuries (62 percent) occur during practices rather than games. Despite this fact, a third of parents often do not take the same safety precautions during their child's practices as they would for a game." Protect yourself by treating practices exactly like they were games.