Take Sobha for example, now 14 years old he’s spent the last three years training hard and improving his technique in every part of his game. We’re talking right from the bio-dynamics of his running to his speed, agility, strength, endurance, awareness and technical ability.

Every part of his training schedule has been carefully scripted by experts in their field to make sure he is physically and mentally prepared to compete to follow his dream to become a professional soccer player. To become an Asian Soccer Star.

Yet, even with all the carefully laid out plans the risk of injury is a major concern.

During a cup match 2 weeks ago he pulled his hamstring. Albeit a minor pull, he was barred from training and playing matches for 2 weeks while undergoing treatment. The treatment consisted of a combination of strength, flexibility and massage to manipulate and reduce any scarring which could lead to further re-injury.

The point is that in this case, the cause of the injury was more to do with the weather than technique, though we did find some tightness around his lower back and hamstrings.

The weather played a major part as it was a freezing afternoon. The team did their usual warm-up and started the match. Sobha came on as a substitute 25 minutes into the game, by which time his muscles had already cooled down. Playing on the left wing, he needs to move at pace to cross the ball into the opponents box.

The combination of a lack of proper warm-up and crossing the ball is what caused the hamstring pull. Something that could have been averted had he kept warm and moving while on the bench.

The moral of the post?

Make sure that youth players are training with proper technique in every aspect of their game and make double sure that they are warming up properly during training and before matches in these cold winter months. Substitute players come on to make an impact, but need to keep moving while they are on the bench.

In the coming weeks Asian Soccer Star will share some of the training methods from the experts we work with.

Slight pangs of pain alerted us to an area around his hip which is prone to overuse in youth soccer players.

Coupled with another growth spurt his training program and schedule has been reevaluated and restructured.

The importance of monitoring, analysing and adjusting kids soccer training programs is so important that parents and coaches who overlook to put a safety mechanism in place risk the future soccer careers of their kids.

Here are a couple of articles that may help you understand more about soccer training overuse injuries.

How To Recognize and Prevent Overuse Injuries in Soccer
by Gary A. Levengood, M.D.

Soccer, one of the most popular team sports in the world with over 200 million registered players worldwide, is a game of nonstop action. Most injuries in soccer occur in the lower body, mostly to the knees and ankles.However, repeated or prolonged use (overuse) injuries are common problems, especially toward the end of a long and gruelling season. These injuries are the result of constant overloading and wearing down of a tendon (tissue connecting muscle to bone), muscle, bone or joint, resulting in the inability of that structure to perform its normal biomechanical duties….

more

How to prevent overuse injuries

by Steve Watson http://www.footy4kids.co.uk

Overuse injuries in children are increasing in frequency and you are right to be concerned.

I think that the key to avoiding overuse injuries lies in understanding the root causes. Most agree that these are:

• Growth spurts
• Inadequate warm up
• Excessive activity (for example, increased intensity, duration, or frequency of playing and/or training)
• Improper technique (for example, overextending on a pitch)
• Unsuitable equipment (for example, nonsupportive athletic shoes)

I would suggest that children who are coached by qualified sports coaches who understand the risks, teach correct techniques, use effective warm up activities and are careful to increase the intensity of training in a controlled way will not be at much risk from developing an overuse injury.

In addition, the careful selection of footwear will help prevent all injuries, including overuse injuries, to the foot, ankle and knee.

It is also important to make sure that children are physically fit before taking part in organised sport and that they are stopped from playing altogether if they complain of pain.

I would also recommend that young children do not play competitive sport – youth sports should always be fun and the “win at all costs” attitude of many parents, coaches, professional athletes, and peers can lead to injuries. A young athlete striving to meet the unrealistic expectations of others may ignore the warning signs of injury and continue to play with pain.

I really should know all about the feeling you get when you are out injured. A feeling that you are losing out, that you may never catch up with your team mates. A feeling that you may not get picked every game and will spend a lot of time on the bench. An even worse feeling that you might not ever reach your dream of playing professional football.

Early on this season I broke my collar bone, while in a tackle with a bigger lad, and was out for 4 months. Those 4 months were the worst months of my life as I had joined a new team in a higher league and was really starting to show my potential as a striker. There was nothing I could do to keep my fitness, not even light training. I just had to watch from the sidelines and pray that my injury would heal properly.

After 2 months, the pain had gone and I did feel I could get back to training, but my dad had other ideas. I suppose this is where we should really listen to our parents, they really do have our best interests in mind. I wasn’t allowed to train until the end of the 4th month, no matter how well I felt.

Anyway, my collar bone healed and I learnt that a broken collar bone joint is usually stronger than the original bone. I hope so.

Playing football will always put you at risk of injuries. I used to get knee pains ( i found out they were due to a growth spurt), and ankle pains, but never told anyone because I didn’t want to miss training or matches.

But one day my coach, who used to play professional football, told me how he used to carry on playing with injuries and couldn’t carry on as a professional footballer because he had done too much damage to his knees.

After that, every time I got a niggling football injury, whether my knees were hurting or my ankle was hurting I made sure to tell my coach and rest properly.

Warming up is an essential part of avoiding football injuries, and I make sure I always warm up properly. I spend at least 15 minutes warming up, making sure that all the muscles that i’m going to use in my training session have got a gentle workout.