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FRIDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) -- Keeping kids safe when they play sports can mean many things to many parents -- buying the right equipment, making sure the child eats and rests well, even providing adequate sunscreen.
But medical experts say the most important injury-prevention step within a parent's power often goes overlooked or unnoticed: finding a knowledgeable coach.
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"Parents should look at the philosophy of any program their child is going into," said Dr. Douglas McKeag, chairman of the Indiana University School of Medicine's Department of Family Medicine, and director of the university's Center for Sports Medicine. "That philosophy is one of the paramount things people should find out."
In the United States, about 30 million children and teens participate in some form of organized sports, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. And each year more than 3.5 million injuries occur during youth sports. In fact, almost one-third of all injuries incurred in childhood are sports-related.
More than 775,000 children ages 14 and under are treated annually in hospital emergency rooms for sports-related injuries. Most of the injuries occur due to falls, being struck by an object, collisions, and overexertion.
A good coach will check protective gear to ensure that it fits, provide conditioning exercises to prepare for the demands of competition, make sure players aren't overexerting themselves, and teach the basics of the sport, experts said.
Coaching the basics correctly can significantly reduce the risk of injury, particularly for children new to a particular sport, said Michael Bergeron, an applied physiologist and assistant professor at the Medical College of Georgia, and a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine.
"A novel sport lends itself to being injured because players don't know what their abilities and capabilities are," Bergeron said.
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