237 Contact injuries predominate in female youth team sports: an opportunity for prevention

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Alexis L Cairo ◽

Anu M Räisänen ◽

Isla Shill ◽

Amanda M Black ◽

CA Emery

Keyword(s):

High School Students ◽

Online Survey ◽

Sport Participation ◽

Secondary Analysis ◽

Team Sports ◽

Injury Rate ◽

School Students ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Injury Rates ◽

Female Youth

The aim of this study was to investigate sport-related injury rates, types, locations, and mechanisms in female youth team sports.This was a secondary analysis of a cross-sectional study. An anonymous online survey was administered to high school students (ages 14-19) in Canada. The survey included questions regarding demographic information, sport participation and self-reported injuries sustained in the past year. Results were analyzed for girls who reported playing a top ten team sports for female participation. For girls participating in team sports, the overall injury rate was 55.5 injuries/100 participants/year. The rate of at least one concussion was 9.4 concussions/100 participants/year. Injury and concussion rates were highest in ringette (Injury rate=42.9 injuries/100 participants/year, Concussion rate=19.0 concussions/100 participants/year) and rugby (Injury rate=40.0, Concussion rate=15.3). The top three most serious injury locations were the knee (24.7%), ankle (21.6%) and head (16.1%). The most common injury types were joint/ligament sprain (26.71%), fracture (13.0%) and concussion (11.8%). Contact mechanisms accounted for 73.4% of all serious injuries reported in girls team sports.Team sport injury rates are high in female youth team sports. Specific consideration of sport-specific injury rates, types and mechanisms in girls’ team sports will inform development and evaluation of targeted sport-specific prevention strategies.

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Assessing the Magnitude and Direction of Asymmetry in Unilateral Jump and Change of Direction Speed Tasks in Youth Female Team-Sport Athletes

Journal of Human Kinetics ◽

10.2478/hukin-2021-0061 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 79 (1) ◽

pp. 15-27

Author(s):

Jordi Arboix-Alió ◽

Chris Bishop ◽

Ariadna Benet ◽

Bernat Buscà ◽

Joan Aguilera-Castells ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Team Sports ◽

Team Sport ◽

Kappa Coefficient ◽

Fitness Testing ◽

Countermovement Jump ◽

Linear Speed ◽

Female Youth ◽

Change Of Direction ◽

Time Performance ◽

The Relationship

Abstract The direction of inter-limb asymmetries and the change of direction (COD) deficit are two aspects that have increased in recent years. The main objective of the present study was to assess the magnitude of neuromuscular asymmetries in an elite youth female team-sports sample and determine its directionality. Secondary objectives were to evaluate the relationship between COD deficit, linear speed and COD time performance. Elite female youth basketball and handball players (n = 33, age = 16 ± 1.17 y) performed the Single Leg Countermovement Jump in vertical (SLCJ-V), horizontal (SLCJ-H), and lateral (SLCJ-L) directions, the COD and the 10-m sprint. Results showed statistical differences between limbs in all the neuromuscular tests (p < 0.001). The Kappa coefficient showed poor to fair levels of agreement between tasks (K range = -0.087 to 0.233), indicating that asymmetries rarely favoured the same limb between skills. Additionally, small and non-significant correlations were found between the linear sprint capacity and the COD ability. The findings of the present study highlight the independent directionality of asymmetries across tests. The COD deficit does not appear to be much more advantageous than COD total time to measure asymmetry. Practitioners are encouraged to use a fitness testing battery to detect existing side differences and each ability should be specifically trained with functional tasks.

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The Association of Family, Friends, and Teacher Support With Girls’ Sport and Physical Activity on the Island of Ireland

Journal of Physical Activity and Health ◽

10.1123/jpah.2020-0386 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Wesley O’Brien ◽

Tara Coppinger ◽

Irene Hogan ◽

Sarahjane Belton ◽

Marie H. Murphy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Social Support ◽

Screen Time ◽

Sport Participation ◽

Team Sports ◽

Sports Participation ◽

Physically Active ◽

Family Structures ◽

Female Youth ◽

The Impact

Background: The current study was the largest physical activity (PA) surveillance assessment of youth undertaken in Ireland in recent years. The purpose of this research was to assess the impact of social support, while controlling for age and screen time, on PA and sport participation, across a representative sample of Irish female youth. Methods: A total of 3503 children (mean age: 13.54 [2.05] y) across the island of Ireland participated. Participants completed a previously validated electronic questionnaire while supervised in a classroom setting, which investigated their (1) levels of PA; (2) screen time; (3) community sport participation; and (4) social support (friend, family, and teacher) to be physically active/partake in sport. Results: There were significant differences, with medium and large effect sizes, for social support from friends and family across types of sports participation. Specifically, girls who participated in the most popular team sports, when compared with the most popular individual sports, reported higher social support scores for friends and family structures. Conclusions: Findings from this study confirm the contributing influence of friends and family as sport and PA support networks for girls. Interventions should consider the importance of culturally relevant team sports for PA engagement in female youth.

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