Basketball is the most popular sport for kids, but it also causes the most injuries.
| Basketball is the most popular sport for kids, but it also causes the most injuries. |
Point guard Lizzie Singer was ready to dominate the court. Her team was playing against its biggest rival, and Lizzie was pumped. But seven seconds into the game, Lizzie, 14, was limping off the court with an ankle injury. "It was bad," says Lizzie. "I sat out for the rest of the game."
The sprain sent the New York City basketball player to physical therapy for two months. Therapy included icing the injured area and doing lots of strengthening exercises.
For Lizzie, sports injuries had become a part of the game. When she was 11, she broke her wrist at basketball camp. One year later she broke her wrist again, this time at soccer practice. The injuries taught her a lesson: "I make sure to do team exercises and stretches before games."
Lizzie is just one of more than 30 million U.S. kids who play competitive sports. That's up from about 25 million in 1992. As the number of kid athletes rises, so does the number of sports injuries.
Last year, more than 3.5 million kids suffered an injury related to sports or recreation, says Angela Mickalide, program director of the National SAFE KIDS Campaign in Washington, D.C. The worst offenders: basketball, football and soccer. In 2000, more than 217,000 young basketball players were treated in hospital emergency rooms.
|  Protect you head with a helmet when you're batting. |
Pain, No Gain
The good news, says Mickalide, is that "nearly half of all kids' organized-sports-related injuries can be prevented." Experts agree that there's plenty a kid can do to keep healthy and stay in the game.
First tip: Follow the rules. A poll of 539 people released this month by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons reveals that eight out of ten injury-free kids know safety guidelines and use safety equipment all or most of the time.
It also helps to shape up before the season starts and to remember that even competitive sports are supposed to be fun. In 1989, Michelle Klein began the National Youth Sports Safety Foundation in Boston, Massachusetts. The foundation works with coaches, parents and athletes to reduce kids' sports injuries. Klein cautions athletes, "Don't be afraid to say something if you get hurt. Pain means something is wrong."
|  Football injuries sent 200,000 kids to hospitals in 2000. |
Tough Breaks
Graham Hugall, 8, and Nico Gurian, 9, have learned that lesson the hard way! Both kids pushed themselves too far and suffered the consequences.
Last baseball season, Graham, who lives in Auburn, Alabama, dove for a ball and landed hard, damaging a growth plate. Ouch! Growth plates are fast-growing areas in kids' bones. If the growth plate is damaged, the bone may not grow properly. Graham wore a cast for three weeks. Now, when his arm hurts, he holds back and doesn't dive for balls.
Nico lives in New York City. He separated the growth plate in his shoulder last spring after a weekend crammed full of sports. He pitched in a baseball game that started on a Friday night, but because of rain was completed the next morning. After the game, Nico had a 2 1/2-hour tennis match. "I hurt my arm and had to take 10 weeks off from sports," he recalls.
Lizzie, Nico and Graham say they will never give up sports. But they've learned from their injuries. "I'm a lot more careful now," admits Lizzie. "But nothing would ever discourage me from playing. It would be like closing a part of my life."
Tips from a Pro
Want to jump higher, run faster, throw harder and stay healthy? Here are some tips from Dr. Jordan D. Metzl, director of the Sports Medicine Institute for Young Athletes in New York City.
Preseason
During the Season
Anytime