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More young people enjoy sports than ever before. Athletic participation has increased in grade schools, high schools and community programs.

Young athletes have special needs. Because their bodies are growing, they often require different coaching, conditioning, and medical care than more mature athletes. It is important to examine the special requirements of young athletes to better prepare them for the competitive pressures and physical injuries that can come with increased sports activity.

Statistics demonstrate the increased popularity of sports among young people. Fifty percent of boys and 25 percent of girls between the ages of eight and 16 compete in an organized sports program sometime during the year. Three-fourths of junior high schools and middle schools have competitive interscholastic sports programs. At the high school level, there are 32 male and 27 female competitive sports with 7,000,000 high school students participating. Beyond organized sports programs, millions more compete and participate in physical education classes, church and community intramural programs, and other recreational athletic activities.

A host of factors has contributed to the awakening of interest in health, conditioning and sports. The media impact on youth has elevated talented college and professional athletes to heroic levels. The multimedia message on these sports heroes may confuse young athletes by creating unrealistic expectations. The early return to competition by professional athletes following an injury creates the impression that athletes often heal faster than the rest of us. However, peer pressure and the economic and social forces exerted on school coaches to win may lead to decisions that are not truly in the best interests of a child's health, growth and development.

Young athletes are different
The growing athlete is not merely a smaller version of the adult. There are marked differences in coordination, strength and stamina between a youth and an adult. In young athletes, bone-tendon-muscle units, growth areas within bones, and ligaments experience uneven growth patterns, leaving them susceptible to injury Increases in body size may be due to fat and not muscle, causing marked differences in strength. Too often unfair competition occurs between boys of 100 pounds of baby fat and peach fuzz versus 200 pounds of muscle and mustache.

Grade school students are less likely to suffer from severe injury because they are smaller and slower than older athletes; when they collide or fall, the forces on their musculoskeletal system are usually not high enough to cause injury. On the other hand, high school athletes are bigger, faster, stronger and capable of delivering tremendous forces in contact sports.

Coaches bear a prime responsibility in developing their young athletes and watching for early signs of physical problems (such as pain or limp). They often recognize severe injuries because their athletes show signs of pain and can't continue playing.

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