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Tyson, Zack

Dr. Colombo

UWRT 1104

2-28-17

Why Has the Number of Youth Athletic Injuries Increased in The Past Fifteen Years?

1. Does playing one sport year-round help or hurt your chances of improving in that specific
sport?

2. Do kids feel pressured into specializing in one sport?

3. Can playing one sport year-round at a young age damage your body?

4. Other than the athlete overusing their body, what other factors could damage their bodies?

5. Are there ways to prevent these injuries through physical therapy or other treatments?

Works Cited
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Does playing one sport year-round help or hurt your chances of improving in that specific sport?

John OSullivan Published a book titled, Is it Wise to Specialize? This book talks
about all the issues dealing with only playing one sport. Changingthegame.com
published an overview of the books and says this, Research shows that early
participation in multiple sports leads to better overall motor and athletic
development, longer playing careers, increased ability to transfer sports skills
other sports and increased motivation, ownership of the sports experience, and
confidence (OSullivan).

During the 2015 National Football League draft, a study was done on how many
players in that draft were multisport athletes. 87% of the 2015 NFL draft class
were multisport athletes and the league average now is right around 70% (Bell).

In 2016 Fred Bowen published an article for The Washington Post talking about
the risks of playing a year-round sport. In his article, he had this to say, How big
is the risk of injury if you specialize in one sport? A Loyola University Chicago
study of 1,200 youth athletes found that kids who specialized in one sport were 70
percent to 93 percent more likely to be injured than multi-sport athletes. Thats a
lot (Brown)

It seems to me that these sources all indicate that playing multiple sports is actually better
for young athletes health and that playing one sport year-round is worse for the body.

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Do kids feel pressured into specializing in one sport?

Around the ages of 10-15 years old are when kids usually end up specializing in
sports. A child who is only 12 years couldnt possibly know in his heart of hearts
that they want to play baseball year-round, can he? Jennifer Breheny Wallace is
the author of the article titled, Why Kids Shouldnt Specialize in One Sport. She
said this near the end of her article, Why are we putting this pressure on our kids
when only a small percentage will play in college and an even smaller percentage
will play professionally (J. Wallace).

CNN reporter Kelly Wallace published an article early 2016 talking about how
parents can make their kids quit sport without even realizing what they are doing.
The article talks about how colleges recruit kids as early as their freshman year of
high school, yes high school. So, I guess I'm an example of a parent who I think
made some mistakes and probably could help parents understand that they
shouldn't be in a hurry, that if their kids really have talent and passion that they are
going to be OK whether they're playing on six travel teams or just the rec league
(K. Wallace).

Brook De Lench published an article on momsteam.com about reasons kids

specialize in sports and she lists out multiple reasons about how parents pressure
their kids. Just as parents who drill their second-grader on questions from the
Scholastic Aptitude Test have lost sight of the fact that the best way to prepare a
child for college isn't to teach by rote but to raise a child who loves to learn, the
best way to prepare a child to be a successful high school athlete, in my view, is to
instill a love of sports, not to apply so much pressure on him at an early age.
(Lench)

These sources show that the problem stems from parents pushing their kids towards one
sport instead of allowing them to play multiple sports and have them choose for
themselves.

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Can playing one sport year-round at a young age damage your body?

More and more studies have been done and now show that kids who specialize in
sports are more likely to injury themselves due to overuse. Serena Gordon is the
author of the article, More Kids Are Suffering Sports Injuries. Children are
particularly susceptible to repetitive injuries, because they're still growing
(Gordon).

Nancy Cambria wrote an article all about the dangers of kids playing year-round
sports. She talked about how she started her kids off with a tee ball bat a soccer
ball and a football and let them choose the sports they wanted to play! There are
many dangers that come with a child playing one sport year-round for their entire
childhood. Here is what Nancy had to say about the whole situation. Its a scene
fraught with overuse and even traumatic injuries in young bodies still growing and
developing bone and muscle so much so that medical associations, athletic
trainers and even professional athletes are speaking out against it (Cambria).

There were many sources talking about how specializing in one sport is dangerous for a
growing athletes body and these sources are a few among many that make everyone
aware of the risks.

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Other than the young athletes overusing their bodies, what other factors could damage their
bodies?

Over exerting your body can obviously cause injury but there are other outside factors as
well. William Imbo published an article in BoxLife magazine discussing the effects of
posture on young athletes bodies. Sometimes poor posture is the result of accidents and
injuries. But more often than not, sloppy posture arrives out of environmental factors and
bad habits that are entirely within our control (Imbo).

Most doctors and therapists start treatment with an assessment of posture because your
posture can actually affect organs, tendons and muscles. Rob Williams is a Vancouver
kinesiologist and posture specialist and in one of his articles he explains how posture can
play a major role in athletes careers when it comes with dealing with injuries. For over
15 years, I have focused my business on helping athletes and non-athletes alike improve
all aspects of their physical being - through strength training, total conditioning, and
posture management. How many times have chronic injuries kept a key player on the
sideline or prevented a team from performing to their full potential? Theres a good
chance that faulty posture may have been a key contributing factor. Proper posture, or
neutral alignment, is a cornerstone of optimal performance for athletes (Williams).

These sources focus on how posture plays a major role in injuries with everyone, not just
athletes. Based off these sources, posture is almost as big of an issue as overuse injuries.

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Are there ways to prevent these injuries through physical therapy or other treatments?

James Andrews, a former president of the American Society for Sports Medicine
(AOSSM) and is the founder of Andrews Institute and is the mastermind of Stop Sports
Injuries. This program is online and it allows you to select a sport and your able to see a
number of injury prevention programs for that specific sport. Basketball requires
extensive stop and go and cutting maneuvers which can put the ligaments and menisci of
the knee at risk. Injury to the medial collateral ligament is most common following a
blow to the outside of the knee and can be often be treated with ice, bracing and a gradual
return to activity. An injury to the anterior cruciate ligament is a more serious injury and
can occur with an abrupt change in direction and landing for the jump (Andrews).

Every sport has injuries specifically related to that specific sport and there are a number
of ways to prevent them. Catherine Paddock PhD wrote an article about doing the right
thing when it comes to playing sports and doing what many specialists call, Prehab.
Some injury experts in the US have said they are also seeing more and more
young athletes injured because of overuse and doing too much, and this may
partially explain the growing numbers that drop out of sport by the eighth grade
(Paddock).

These sources show us that playing sports comes with injuries, its just part of sports! But these
injuries can be prevented by doing to right injury prevention and taking care of your body.

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Works Cited

Andrews, James. Basketball Common Injuries and Prevention Tips. Andrews Institute for

Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine | AndrewsInstitute.com, STOP SPORTS INJURIES,

2006, www.andrewsinstitute.com/injuryprevention/basketball/. Accessed 28 Feb. 2017.

Bell, Rob. Why Playing Multiple Sports-Not Just One-Is Best for Kids. Parenting, Rob Bell,

2016, www.parenting.com/child/health/why-playing-multiple-sports%E2%80%94not-

just-one%E2%80%94-best-kids. Accessed 27 Feb. 2017.

Bowen, Fred. Playing One Sport Year-Round Isn't Smart, Even for Kids Who Want to Go Pro.

The Washington Post, WP Company, 22 June 2016,

www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/playing-one-sport-year-round-isnt-smart-

even-for-kids-who-want-to-go-pro/2016/06/22/a346bba6-3492-11e6-95c0-

2a6873031302_story.html?utm_term=.101b8160246d. Accessed 27 Feb. 2017.

Cambria, Nancy. Is It Really a Good Idea for Kids to Play a Sport All Year Round?

Stltoday.com, St Louis Today, 17 Nov. 2015, www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/is-it-

really-a-good-idea-for-kids-to-play/article_2e072908-c2d2-5616-8a77-

69a1a88f2386.html. Accessed 28 Feb. 2017.

Gordon, Serena, and Healthday Reporter. More Kids Are Suffering Sports Injuries. ABC News,

ABC News Network, 23 Mar. 1970, abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?

id=4508484&page=1. Accessed 27 Feb. 2017.

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Imbo, William. How Poor Posture Affects Your Health and Athletic Performance. BoxLife

Magazine, BoxLife , 13 Jan. 2016, boxlifemagazine.com/5193-2/. Accessed 28 Feb.

2017.

Lench, Brooke de. Early Specialization: Nine Reasons Why It Is a Bad Idea. MomsTeam,

Brooke De Lench, 18 June 2015, www.momsteam.com/successful-parenting/early-

specialization-in-youth-sports-supported-by-myths-and-competitive-culture-not-facts.

Accessed 27 Feb. 2017.

Paddock, Catharine. Young Athletes: Injuries And Prevention. Medical News Today,

MediLexicon International, 9 Aug. 2012,

www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/248796.php. Accessed 28 Feb. 2017.

Wallace, Jennifer Breheny. Why Kids Shouldn't Specialize in One Sport. The Huffington Post,

TheHuffingtonPost.com, 18 Aug. 2015, www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-breheny-

wallace/why-kids-shouldnt-specialize-in-one-sport_b_7972286.html. Accessed 27 Feb.

2017.

Wallace, Kelly. Why Are so Many Kids Dropping out of Sports? CNN, Cable News Network,

21 Jan. 2016, www.cnn.com/2016/01/21/health/kids-youth-sports-parents/. Accessed 27

Feb. 2017.

Williams, Rob. Posture for Performance. Posture for Performance | SportMedBC,

SportMedBC, 2016, sportmedbc.com/article/posture-performance. Accessed 28 Feb.

2017.
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