High School, College Football Comes With Risk

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Not unexpectedly, college players were about twice as likely to injure themselves as high school students, Comstock said, suffering 8.6 injuries per 1,000 "athlete-exposures" (a practice or competition), compared with high school athletes' 4.36 injuries/1,000.

But the researcher said she was surprised to find that the distribution of injuries differed, with fractures, concussions, and season-ending injuries more common among high school athletes.

For instance, injuries to the lower leg, ankle and foot were common at both the high school and college levels. But while the knee is the second most-injured site among high school players, hip and thigh injuries were more common in college athletes.

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The study comes on the heels of findings released in July that found a much higher rate of catastrophic head injury among high school football players compared to college players.

LaBella noted that, if anything, this study is underestimating injuries at the high school level, because only schools with an athletic trainer on staff were included. It's possible that such schools have better resources and equipment than less well-funded schools, she said.

According to Comstock, the impetus behind this study was the lack of any injury reporting system at the high school level to match the NCAA's, which has been in place for more than 20 years.

"We set out to replicate the NCAA system at the high school level," Comstock explained. "That's important, because right now, rules, protective equipment, and education at the high school level are largely based on information collected on college athletes, and high school athletes are not merely miniature versions of their collegiate counterparts."

High school athletes are less physically mature and have less muscle mass than collegiate athletes, for instance. They also have incomplete growth plates, meaning their bones are still developing. Inexperienced athletic techniques can also exacerbate their risk of injury, Comstock said.

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