Published:
October 5, 2022
If you’re the parent of a student athlete, another school year means more than a return to the books. It’s also time for sports. Unfortunately, along with the fun, pride, and excitement, comes the potential for sports injuries. It can be hard to watch from the sidelines as your child takes a hit or fall. But believe it or not, there are some actions you can take to help prevent your child from getting injured. Here's what you need to know to stay in the game.
Stay on Top of Your Child’s Fitness and Nutrition
Proper conditioning is important in staying safe on the field or court. Make sure your child comes into the season with a general level of fitness. This decreases the risk of stress fractures, shin splints, and other overuse injuries.
Good nutrition and hydration are important for success not only in sports, but in school, and life in general. Encourage your child to eat breakfast every day, and focus on healthy choices for lunch, dinner and snacks. Student athletes should eat nutrient-dense foods, meaning foods that have a lot of vitamins and minerals per calorie. And when it comes to hydration, sports drinks are usually unnecessary when activity is less than 60 minutes or is intermittent and not intense. Plain water is all your child needs to maintain hydration.
Learn Your School’s Concussion Protocol
Few medical conditions have received as much attention over the past several years as sports-related concussions. Learn how your school handles head injuries and be sure you are able to identify the symptoms of concussion:
- Headache
- Nausea
- Fatigue and drowsiness
- Visual problems
- Dizziness and balance problems
- Sensitivity to noise or lights
- Emotional reactivity, sadness, nervousness or irritability
- Sleep problems
- Impaired thinking, such as difficulty with concentration, memory, or slowness of thinking
Know Your Coaches
Meet your child's coaches in person. Find out how to contact them. Stay in touch with any questions or concerns throughout the season. Good relationships are key to your athlete's safety. Watch a few practices or ask coaches these questions:
- How are the kids getting adequate hydration?
- How hard will you push the athletes?
- What does the warm up-cool down regimen involve?
Find Out if Your Child’s School Has an Athletic Trainer
The athletic trainer is the medical person on the scene in your child’s school and often knows them (and their sport and coaches) well, and can facilitate communication. Middle schools may not have athletic trainers, but sometimes the high school trainer (ATC/LAT) will be able to follow a student if needed. LG Health Physicians Sports Medicine has licensed athletic trainers on staff to assist with these communications.
And above all, REMEMBER: The first and best aim of sports is to learn, have fun, and be a part of the team. Try to instill this philosophy in your child...and yourself!