There’s an excellent website to which we now link from the health and safety page of MHSAA.com.  It’s stopsportsinjuries.org.

Under “Sports Injury Prevention,” in each of a dozen categories from baseball to volleyball, are numerous articles about injury prevention and treatment and additional resources.

The website is the most public presence so far for a campaign begun in 2007 by the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM).

Sports Illustrated in June quoted AOSSM’s president, Dr. James R. Andrews, as saying the focus is really on youth sports and overuse injuries.  “I don’t think epidemic is too strong a word,” said Dr. Andrews.  “We’re seeing kids hurt before they even have a chance to become athletes.

“You just have this enormous pressure nowadays on kids to play that one sport year-round.

“Encourage your child to be involved in more than one sport.  Cross-training helps develop their bodies.  Don’t allow your child to play in more than one league in the same sport in the same season.  That’s how they get burned out.”

 For more on this general topic, check out theagonyofwinning.com for information about Kevin M. Touhey’s new book, The Agony of Winning:  Seven Strategies for Winning Bigger with Greater Freedom, Spirit and Integrity.