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Latest Research
Research Details
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| Research Title: |
Youth Sports: A Paediatrician’s Perspective on Coaching and Injury Prevention |
| Type of Research: |
Publication Articles |
| Category: |
Preventative Techniques
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| Keywords: |
Coach
Communication
Education
Injury Prevention
Motivation
Participation
Training
Youth
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| Author(s): |
Michael C Koester, MD, ATC |
| Author(s) Bio Box: |
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| Release Date: |
01 April 2007 |
| Research Summary/Text: |
In the US it is estimated that sports and recreational activities account for 32.5% of all serious injuries in children aged 5 to 17 years. While the unique physiologic and biomechanical aspects of the growing body play an important role in injury risk in children, it is also thought that improper training methods and lack of proper sport-specific techniques also contribute. Many youth coaches are volunteer parents or community members with little or no appropriate training themselves in coaching children and young people. Access to skilled athletic trainers is limited mainly to elite and/or adult sports.
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| Research Objectives: |
The review aims to describe the key factors that influence youth participation in sport and promote the role that coaches and athletic trainers can play in injury prevention in youth sports.
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| Research Outcomes: |
The primary reason children choose sports participation is to have fun. Skill development, making friends through team involvement, the challenge of sports, and improving physical fitness were also common factors leading to participation. A young person’s perceived confidence and perceived ability also play major roles in participation motivation. Youth attrition from participation in a sport is due to: interest in other sport, other interests, lack of playing time, overemphasis on competition and dislike of the coach. Attrition among younger children results from lack of success, lack of playing time and the absence of fun.
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| Research Implications: |
Player-coach communication is vital to maintaining participation and reducing injury risk in young players. A coach’s communication skills will affect both the players’ perception of their own abilities (motivation) and their ability to assimilate technical instruction (injury risk). Effective coaching of youth is more likely where coaches are (1) knowledgeable in the technical aspects of the sport they coach, (2) aware of the emotional and physiological developmental stages of children and adolescents and not treat them like “little adults”, and (3) able to communicate with young athletes to avoid emotional conflict, foster positive attitudes and improve skill.
Ideally, skilled athletic trainers would play a role in youth sport. This could include: (1) organising and promoting coaching clinics to highlight special training and injury risk needs of young people, (2) being an advocate for children’s health and safety in sport participation and mediating between parents and coaches if needed, and (3) actively policing the local coaching ranks (with the cooperation of others) to remove individuals who are abusing their authority and those with winning out of perspective.
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