I guess it’s the nature of the business. I interviewed sports writer Robert Bell for The Beat about his “upcoming” story on overuse injuries among high school athletes.
I was interested in this story not only because I had seen it on HBO’s Real Sports months ago, but also because I used to cover high school sports many moons ago.
But the story, which I thought was going to run Sunday, was held.
Robert wrote:
In interviews with sports-medicine doctors and athletic trainers one factor is repeatedly cited as the prime cause for the outbreak in overuse injuries among young athletes: specialization in one sport at an early age and the year-round, almost manic, training that accompanies it.
The sad thing is it’s not a new trend. Check out the American Academy of Pediatrics story on kids’ health here (It includes helpful tips for preventing these types of injuries). Parents and coaches believe that continually practicing and playing one sport will help kids get scholarships or endorsements or play professionally as they get older. A truer picture is that using the same muscles over and over in growing bodies can do a lot of damage.
The solution is quite simple: Rest and let kids be kids, meaning let them play all the sports they want to play. Playing multiple sports helps develop different muscles and reduces the stress on growth plates, tendons and growing bones. Kids also can transfer skills learned in one sport to another.
Robert mentioned a particularly spectacular play former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana made years ago. When asked how he was able to pivot away from a defender and make a game-winning pass, Montana said to the reporter that many people forget he used to play basketball.
At last check the story is scheduled to run in two weeks. Maybe we’ll see it sooner, but you still can listen to the interview by clicking the icon above.