Engage Sports Blog Youth Sports Matters

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Cyberbullying: What You Need to Know to Keep Kids Safe Online and Off

For parents who experienced bullying as getting cornered in the hallway or a black eye on the playground, it may be hard to understand how online teasing amounts to abuse. But cyberbullying is so much more than unkind words said online.

Current youth sports injury statistics and resources suggest that the overall youth sports injury rate hovers around 1%, with an injury resulting in an ER visit.  However, if you read today's headlines and listen to the pundits you might get the impression that following a youth sports game, that all the players (and some of the coaches and ref's) are in the hospital.  Well, that is certainly hardly the case and could not be farther from the facts. In this blog post we present several youth sports facts below, which we feel help point to some key sources of injury and a better understanding of youth sports injury. 

Recommendations for youth sports strength training are affected by the debate for and against that exists among the medical community, sports community and parenting community.  The argument against strength training, especially for kids under 12 years old holds that strength training, especially weight lifting, will damage growth plates causing injury and abnormal bone development. More recent studies suggest strength training, if done properly, has significant benefits including improved performance and resistance to injury. In this post we present more details on these arguments and specific recommendations from the Council of Youth Sports and Medical Fitness.

New concussion diagnosis apps are coming to the rescue in youth sports. While pro teams have the luxury of having sideline doctors and "concussion spotters" in the press boxes, youth sports lacks such resources.  Now, new app-based sports concussion diagnosis programs such as HHITT (Handheld Head Injury Treatment Tool) are coming to the sidelines to help youth sports coaches and trainers spot concussion signs. Soon, no where will it be more welcome see a kid on a smart phone than on the sidelines of a football game.