Turf and Shoes: Are They Causes of Severe Injury in Youth Soccer Players?

Introduction:

We will question youth soccer players (14-18 years) to determine if the turf or field surface that they play on, and the shoes that they wear, are contributing factors to serious injury. Rick Celebrini is a graduate student who is planning to investigate soccer injuries first by survey and then by introducing a treatment program to reduce or prevent the most serious injuries.

Project Methodology:

Survey of 16 teams of lower mainland youth soccer over the course of a playing season. The players will participate in a questionnaire.

Participant Recruitment:

Youth soccer players (14 - 18 years of age) boys and girls, and higher level and lower skill level players will be recruited through soccer clubs and their coaches. They will return the questionnaires by mail.

Impact For People With Arthritis:

This is one of a series of studies planned to determine the causes of knee injuries in youth soccer players and whether these injuries cause osteoarthritis. These studies are the first of their kind and could lead to research on how to prevent osteoarthritis, the most common and most expensive of all types of arthritis.

Time Frame:

May 2004 - 2005. This is the first study of series of studies investigating injuries in youth soccer players.

Funding Agency:

Physiotherapy Foundation of Canada

Publications / Presentations:

World Congress of Physical Therapy, June 2007, Vancouver BC

Project Team Members:

Principal Investigator

Donna MacIntyre  PhD
Research Scientist, ARC (Retired)

Co-Investigator

Rick Celebrini

Other Institutions Involved

School of Rehabilitation Sciences
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC    Canada