Game Changers in Sports Safety

Are you ready for the fall sports? Get the information you need to know. It could be a game changer!

NEW RESEARCH

Research Report: As kids gear up for sports this fall, Safe Kids Worldwide is teaming up with Johnson & Johnson to release new info about how to keep kids safe and in the game. Here’s the big news: Each year, 1.35 million children are seen in emergency rooms for sports-related injuries. That’s one child every 25 seconds. And female athletes are eight times more likely to have ACL (knee) injuries than male athletes. This is just some of the information in our new research report, which looks at injuries in 14 popular youth sports and focuses on issues like concussions and knee injuries and how to prevent them.

INFOGRAPHIC

We’ve also developed a cool, new infographic to help parents, coaches and athletes learn the facts about sports injuries and how to prevent them.

LEARN MORE

Want to learn more about how to prevent sports injuries? Here are four tips we believe can make a difference for athletes on and off the field:

• Educate yourself about preventing serious sports-related injuries and share this info with parents, athletes, coaches and officials. We’ll make it easy for you. Share our tips and find a sports safety clinic near you.
• Learn skills to prevent injuries while playing sports. Instill smart hydration habits, exercises and stretches to prevent common injuries. With the help of U.S. Women’s Soccer player, Ali Krieger, we created a video that shows 7 things every athlete can do to help prevent knee injuries.
• Encourage athletes to speak up about injuries. Too often, athletes feel like they are letting down their teammates, coaches or parents if they ask to sit out. The truth is it takes more courage to speak up about an injury that can have serious and long-term effects.
• Support coaches and officials in making decisions to prevent serious injuries. A Safe Kids Worldwide 2012 survey found half of coaches admit to being pressured by a parent or athlete to keep an injured athlete in the game. Coaches need to be educated and confident in making decisions that protect the long-term interests of young athletes.