Tyson 1

Tyson, Zack

Dr. Colombo

UWRT 1104

2-16-17

Why Has the Number of Youth Athletic Injuries Increased in The Past Fifteen Years?

Research Journal Entry #1

Andrews, James R. STOP Sports Injuries. STOP Sports Injuries, Andrews Institute Orthopedics and

Sports Medicine, 2006, www.andrewsinstitute.com/InjuryPrevention/STOPSportsInjuries.aspx.

Main Claim:

1. Each year more than 3.5 million children aged 14 and younger are treated for sports-related injuries According
to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, making prevention of such injuries a top priority among
sports and healthcare industries.
2. Paraphrase: More and more youth athletes are hurt every year and the AAOS plans to raise awareness about these
injuries to healthcare companies.

Summary:

James R. Andrews, M.D. began the national STOP Sports Injuries campaign during his tenure as president of
the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) to address the growing epidemic. He lists out all the
sports you could possibly think of and allows you to click on whichever sport you choose and it gives you a lot of helpful
information. By clicking on a sport, it tells you the most common injuries related to that sport, how these sport specific
injuries are treated, what the causes of these injuries are and last and most importantly how these injuries can be
prevented.

Evaluation:

Stop Sports Injuries was created by James R. Andrews in 2006 and he has continued to update the data through
2017. The information displayed on this site relates directly to my topic because it talks specifically about injury
prevention, treatment of injuries, and that dangers of specializing in sports too soon in your sports life. He talks about what
everyone involved in a young athletes life can do to make playing sports safer and more fun. His audience includes
coaches, parents of athletes and the athletes themselves.
His website is set up and is very simple and easy to understand. For example, if your son plays baseball and you
wanted to know what you could do to make sure he stays healthy and does everything possible to avoid injuries this
website has everything you need. Simply scroll down and find the blue underlined word, Baseball, by clicking on this
link it will take you to a separate page listing out the most common injuries and injury prevention programs for baseball.
After every specific sports page, he has a list of specialists and their email address so that in case you had any
questions or concerns you could contact them This website is easy to understand/navigate, has reliable sources, and the
information is very clear and straight forward. For these reasons, this is a reliable source.
Important Quotes:

1. Injuries in young athletes are on the rise, but elbow and shoulder injuries in children are on the verge of
becoming an epidemic.

2. However, when strenuous exercise is combined with inadequate calorie intake, serious health consequences can
occur.

3. In 2007, more than 920,000 athletes under the age of 18 were treated in emergency rooms, doctors' offices, and
clinics for football-related injuries, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
 Tyson 2

Research Journal Entry #2

O'Sullivan, By John. Is It Wise to Specialize? Changing the Game Project, John O'Sullivan, 3 Dec. 2016,

changingthegameproject.com/is-it-wise-to-specialize/.

Main Claim:

1. The greatest difference between our childrens sporting experience and our own is the rise of year-round,
sport specific organizations that ask even require season after season of participation in order to stay in
the player development pipeline. The pressure to have your child specialize in a single sport at a young age
has never been stronger (OSullivan).
2. Paraphrase: The biggest difference between kids sports today and kids sports fifteen years ago is the rise of
year-round sports. The pressure to specialize is stronger now more than ever (OSullivan).

Summary:

In this article by John OSullivan he asks the question, Is It Wise to Specialize? When you specialize in a
sport it is simply that, you play one sport and nothing else. You train the muscles required for that sport year-round
and never really give them a break. OSullivan goes into depth about why having a young athlete specialize in a
sport can be dangerous and about why they may feel pressured to do so. In this article, he focusses on the positives
of allowing kids to play multiple sports. Overall playing multiple sports can be more beneficial for kids than playing
one sport would be.

Evaluation:

John OSullivan is the author of, Is It Wise to Specialize? In this article the positives and negatives are
discussed relating directly to young athletes specializing in sports. John OSullivan looks at this issue from a
different perspective, he looks less at the injuries and prevention side and more from the reasons why coaches,
parents, and kids feel that specializing is so necessary. His audience is anyone who has ties to a young athlete
whether youre a parent or a coach, no matter who you are you should always be aware of the risks each sport poses
to a developing body like we see in a 12-year-old year-round baseball player.
This article isnt the most organized article but its relatable and easy to understand. There are multiple parts
that include statistics and polls relating to what parents and coaches think about when it comes to specializing in a
sport. OSullivan talks about how to approach people with the information provided in this article, when you talk to
coaches and parents about how to care for their kids they might not take that information so well. This is a reliable
source because he uses numerous sources and relates information he uses in this article to different long term studies
done to look into the dangers of specializing.

Important Quotes:

1. While they recommend that athletes in sports whose competitors peak after age 20 need to accumulate
around 10,000 hours of general sports participation, no more than half of that needs to be deliberate
practice of their chosen sports

2. Prior to age 12: 80% of time should be spent in deliberate play and in sports other than the chosen sport!
 Tyson 3

3. Does my 10-year-old really need to keep playing 11.5 months of soccer a year in order to have a chance of
success? Am I really doing him a disservice by making him play multiple sports, and trying to help him
find one he is passionate about?
Research Journal Entry #3

Imbo, William. How Poor Posture Affects Your Health and Athletic Performance. BoxLife Magazine, BoxLife Magazine,

13 Jan. 2016, boxlifemagazine.com/5193-2/.

Main Claim:
1. Sometimes poor posture is the result of accidents and injuries. But more often than not, sloppy posture arrives out
of environmental factors and bad habits that are entirely within our control (Imbo).
2. Paraphrase: Poor posture causes accidents and injuries but sometimes the reason we have bad posture is our own
fault and can be eliminated (Imbo).

Summary:

William Imbo writes in BoxLife Magazine about the risks and causes of bad posture. Imbo talks about what causes
bad posture and how it actually affects peoples muscles, joints, and overall athletic performance. Kids today have
small hand held devices so they are constantly in a hunched over positon and this can cause problems we arent fully
aware of. Bad posture can cause respiratory issues and the tightening of muscles which can cause more serious strains
and tears. In this magazine article the main focus is on the risks of poor posture and how that can damage tendons,
joints, and organs which of course could lead to long term issues.

Evaluation:

William Imbo is the author of the article titled, How Poor Posture Affects Your Health and Athletic
Performance. This is in the BoxLife Magazine which is a fitness and weight lifting magazine. This article focusses on
the health risks of poor posture and on how poor posture can be detrimental to someones athletic performance. The
main audience this magazine and this article focus on is anyone who is interested in making sure they are doing
whatever it takes to improve their health.
This article begins by talking about why posture is so important in athletics and what the most common reasons are
when it comes to why you have poor posture. It later goes into detail on how poor posture negatively affects your
joints, muscles, heart, organs, and mood! This article refers back to multiple doctors and cardiologists because the most
serious risks deal with your heart.
This magazine article is a little cultured like most magazine articles are, but the information used is very clear and
concise. The main points are bold and underlined so its easy to find the information youre looking for and throughout
the article William Imbo relates back to doctors and cardiologists. This is a credible source because the references are
legit and you can hear all the most important information from doctors and other highly intelligent individuals.

Important Quotes:

1. Other factors tied to the onset of poor posture include poor sleep support (a bad mattress), being overweight,
occupational stress, muscular imbalances, improper shoes and walking and standing with bad form.

2. A 2012 study from the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity found that, on average,
people spend 64 hours a week sitting, 28 hours standing, and 11 hours lounging around regardless of whether or
not they exercised 150 minutes a week.

3. Your posture directly impacts how well your body is able to move your blood, which is especially worrying
considering how many vital nutrients (like oxygen) it carries to crucial systems (like your muscles).
 Tyson 4

Research Journal Entry #4

Drakos, Mark. Artificial Turf: Does It Increase the Risk of Sports Injuries? Hospital for Special Surgery, Mark Drakos,

2008, www.hss.edu/conditions_artificial-turf-sports-injury-prevention.asp.

Main Claim:

1. Physicians and trainers began to notice that players were injured with a greater frequency on the artificial
turf. These injuries included anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears, concussions, and ankle sprains
(Drakos).
2. Paraphrase: Kids have been coming into doctors with common injuries but they are claiming to have
obtained these injuries while performing on artificial turf (Drakos).

Summary:

In this article Mark Drakos discusses the risks of playing sports on artificial turf and talks about what
precautions athletes can take to make sure they are well prepared before playing on these artificial surfaces. Drakos
covers what kind of injuries athletes obtain most often from artificial turf. After talking about that he then goes into
detail about what studies have been done supporting the reason I introduce to my paper which is the dangers of
playing on artificial turf fields. He talks about the ongoing debate on if artificial turf really is dangerous and what
studies have been done to prove other wise. At the end of the article he says that there is simply not enough clear cut
evidence to support the claim that artificial turf is significantly more dangerous than natural turf.

Evaluation:

Mark Drakos M.D. is the author of the article Artificial Turf: Does It Increase the Risk of Sports Injuries?
This article begins with talking about what exactly artificial turf is and why people have continued to have a
problem with artificial turf ever since artificial turf was introduced 40 years ago. Drakos talks about the issue people
have with the differences between natural and artificial turf and how people believe that artificial turf causes more
injuries and why they believe that.
This article is set up in an easy to read format. Its short and sweet so there isnt a lot of unneeded
information. Drakos gets right to the point in each of his sections of this article and refers to multiple sources and
studies relating to the issue of artificial turf. After listing out the numbers of injuries and cases against artificial turf
Drakos talks about why athletes often injure themselves while competing on turf and what they can do to prevent
these common injuries.
This source is very relevant but like Drakos said, there just arent enough studies done to determine if
artificial turf is more dangerous than the real turf. This article would be a good source to use just for bits and pieces
but not the best if you need a main article to base your argument off of.

Important Quotes:

1. AstroTurf was among the earliest artificial turfs first introduced in the mid 1960s. Initially it was
praised for durability and minimal expense for upkeep. However, the novelty was eventually replaced by
skepticism.

2. John Powell from the University of Iowa was among the first to quantify the higher incidence of these
injuries. He published a paper in 1992 which showed that professional football teams had more major
knee injuries on artificial turf when compared to natural grass.
 Tyson 5

3. In the past year, three artificial turf fields in New Jersey were closed due to high lead levels. These were
older fields in which the lead levels were higher within the actual fibers of the artificial turf.

Research Journal Entry #5

Jayanthi, Neeru, et al. Sports Specialization in Young Athletes. Sports Health, SAGE Publications, 5 May 2013,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3658407/.

Main Claim:

1. While most experts agree that some degree of sports specialization is necessary to achieve elite levels,
there is some debate as to whether such intense practice time must begin during early childhood and to the
exclusion of other sports to maximize potential for success (Jayanthi).
2. Paraphrase: Experts agree that to achieve elite levels in a sport its best to specialize but the controversy
comes in when young kids are excluding all but one sport(Jayanthi).

Summary:

Neeru Jayanthi lays out this article in an easy to read format. He talks about what sports specializing is and
includes very important statistics regarding the hours experts say it takes to master a skill. Jayanthi talks about how
it takes ten thousand hours to master a skill like practicing an instrument or playing a sport. After listing out the
hours it takes to technically master a skill, Jayanthi shows the number of youth athletes who specialized in a sport
from 1997-2008. Some degree of sports specialization is necessary to obtain elite-level skill. However, for most
sports, focusing and training in a single sport should be delayed until the athlete is near his or her junior year of high
school to optimize success while minimizing risk for injury and psychological stress. But even then, that athlete
should still spend 25% of their time on a different sport besides the sport they primarily play.

Evaluation:

Dr. Jayanthi leads Emory's Tennis Medicine program and is considered one of the countrys leading
experts on youth sports health, injuries, and sports training patterns, as well as an international leader in
tennis medicine. He is very qualified to talked about the risks of sports specializing and the statistics behind it all.
This article is meant for anyone who is involved with youth sports to raise awareness for the risks.
This article flows fairly well because Dr. Jayanthi starts by defining what sports specialization is and the
risks of having your child specialize too soon. He continues with the numbers and the history of sports specialization
since the mid 90s. This is another great source because like most credible sources he addresses the counter
argument that sports specialization is not all that bad. He goes through the article and makes his primary case and
then provides a clear-cut conclusion.

Important Quotes:

1. The risk of injury from intense training and specialization may be affected by age, competitive level,
growth rate, and pubertal maturation stage.

2. Early participation differences between elite youth soccer players who progressed to professional status at
age 16 years and those who did not revealed that those who progressed had accumulated more hours per
year in unstructured soccer activities between the ages of 6 and 12 years.

3. For most sports, early diversification is more likely to lead to success. A survey of 376 female Division 1
intercollegiate athletes found that the majority had their first organized sports experiences in other sports.
 Tyson 6

4. For most sports, there is no evidence that intense training and specialization before puberty are necessary
to achieve elite status.