Safety before scoring
| • | Safety measures |
By Jean Chow
Advertiser Staff Writer
As kids across the state return to school, they also make a return to the fields and the courts as another season of youth sports starts up.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
But as the action begins, parents should be aware of the safety issues that come along.
American Youth Soccer Organization coach administrator Alan Nakamura supervises as Reid Nakamura, left, and David Cole, both 14, do warm-up exercises before a scrimmage at Wai'alae Iki Park. The Diamond Head-area coach teaches safety awareness to his athletes.
According to the National SAFE KIDS Campaign survey, more than 775,000 children are treated for sports-related injuries in emergency rooms each year, and approximately one in four of those injuries is considered serious.
In Hawai'i, there were 305 sports-related injuries among youths that required hospitalization from 1996 to 1999, according to the state Department of Health's Injury Prevention and Control Program. (The number of emergency room visits was not available.)
More than 30 million kids participate in organized sports in the United States, and even more children participate in recreational activities such as in-line skating, riding scooters and skateboarding, the survey said.
Sports-related injuries are usually separated into two categories: acute injuries, which include sprains, bruises, strains and breaks; and overuse injuries, which include stress fractures, tendinitis and joint disorders.
"In our field, I guess some of the injuries cannot be prevented, like when, in a game, someone gets hit in the wrong way or twists their ankle," said American Youth Soccer Organization coach administrator Alan Nakamura, who coaches a boys team and a girls team in the Diamond Head region.
"But in all sports, stretching and a pregame workout is (important)" for helping to prevent the more common injuries, he said.
Patrick Ariki, president of Sportsmedicine Hawaii Ltd., an orthopedic and sports physical therapy clinic, agreed with Nakamura and said that while injuries vary from sport to sport, the incidence of common injuries can be reduced.
Though it doesn't help for this season now in swing, Ariki recommends what he calls preseason preparation, especially for Hawai'i athletes, which has year-round sports: "This may involve a four-to-six-week period of time before the season starts that participants get involved in stretching, aerobic conditioning and some strength-training program, such as supervised weight training," he said.
But training and preseason preparation should not be overdone, experts warn.
According to "The Sports Medicine Bible," written by Lyle Micheli and Mark Jenkins (Sourcebooks, Inc., $19.95, paperback), overuse injuries have skyrocketed among kids because too often children in organized sports overtrain and sometimes play even when they are injured or in pain.
The book said that the problem of overtraining may be a result of many factors, including amateur coaches who may be unaware of how easily an athlete can be overtrained — when an athlete is required to do too much physically, mentally or both.
Bob Kawamoto, a Little League baseball district administrator for Windward O'ahu and Kaua'i, said that injuries in Little League have decreased dramatically since the start of A Safety Awareness Program, or ASAP, five years ago.
Throughout the year, the program publishes a manual and other pamphlets of safety precautions and guidelines for coaches. Reported injuries have decreased by 50 percent, Kawamoto said.
In addition, Little League officials hold numerous clinics in which coaches, kids and parents are invited to attend. "These clinics teach every aspect of Little League, including safety and sportsmanship," he said.
Kawamoto said that he has a hard time drawing parents to attend, but that it would be beneficial because they can remind and "teach the kids what they should and shouldn't do."
Focus on safety
While the recommended preparation and training can vary widely from sport to sport, there is agreement across disciplines about the basic features all good sports programs should have to provide a safe and positive experience for the young athletes.
"Coaches need to be CPR and basic first-aid certified. If (kids) are getting involved in a program, (parents) should find out who's doing it," Ariki said.
He also said that parents should not assume sports training is being done properly just because a program is run by a school. "There's never any harm in asking questions to athletic directors or principals," Ariki said.
Setting ground rules is important, agreed 'Aiea parent Sandy Kagawa, whose three children, ages 6, 16 and 18, are involved in baseball and soccer and have had injuries including fractured ribs, broken wrists and concussions.
She said that a large part of injury prevention is learning good sportsmanship. "Coaches and referees should be aware of how the kids are playing and teach them not to hit or trip others intentionally," she said.
Pressure on a child to perform well may also contribute to injury, experts said.
"We wish the parents would encourage their kids in a positive, not yelling kind (of way) and let them play the game. We don't encourage the 'suck it up' kind of thing (if a child is injured) — everyone wants to win, but not to an extent of damaging themselves," Nakamura said. "With AYSO, it's not so much about soccer and winning, but fun and family."
Kagawa said she noticed a big change in sports for kids between eighth grade and high school.
"There's so much more competition and everyone's out to win," she said. "I understand that, but sometimes parents are afraid to speak up (to coaches) because it puts their child at risk for less playing time."
She suggests an increased dialogue between parents, coaches and referees.
But despite the worry she feels as a parent, Kagawa says there are many benefits in involving her kids in sports. "It's a good alternative to not wasting time or being left alone. Kids learn about being part of a team and about giving and taking in relationships, which is helpful in the long run," she said.
