Prevent Injuries
%
of Ontario youth aged 5-19 participate in organized sport and it’s a coach’s job to keep participants healthy, happy & safe.
Coaches play an integral role in helping their participants develop & maintain good physical health. Whether community or high performance sport, establishing and maintaining proper physical form and health is key to keeping all participants on the field, free from injuries.
Injury Prevention
The key to the successful prevention and recovery from common injuries is a well-prepared coach. Understanding the most common injuries for your sport and how to prevent them will allow you to minimize their occurrence. Once you recognize patterns it will also help you to teach your athletes exercises and training practices that will help them to become more athletically resilient overall.
Downloadable Resources:
Advance Your Knowledge – Take the Training:
- NCCP Emergency Action Plan eLearning (FREE)
- NCCP Planning a Practice Workshop
- NCCP Prevention & Recovery of Injury Workshop
- Asthma Management in Sports eLearning (FREE)
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Warmups
Having a good warm up plan can be a large contributor to your athlete’s success. Most of us would agree that warm ups provided physical benefits by gradually increasing the heart rate, providing blood flow to muscles, and loosening mobility to reduce potential for injury. However, a well constructed warm up can also help your athletes prepare mentally, providing the opportunity to focus on the upcoming task, familiarize themselves with conditions and visualize performance.
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Stretching
Adding a regular stretching routine to your practices can increase your athlete’s range of motion and flexibility by lengthening soft tissues such as muscles and ligaments. It promotes fluid movement during athletic performance, decreases soreness and minimizes injury.
Dynamic stretching (which improves speed, agility and acceleration) should be used during your warmup at the beginning of practice, and static stretching (which increases flexibility) should be included as part of your recovery and cool down.
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Concussions
Any blow to the head, face or neck, or a blow to the body that jars the head – during practice or competition – can cause a concussion. Coaches at every level must be able to identify the signs and symptoms of a concussion and know what to do when an athlete is suspected of suffering from one. Additionally, creating a culture that supports concussion awareness, symptoms and treatments will encourage your athletes to be open and honest about head injuries.
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Nutrition
Once you are equipped with the right knowledge, you can help your athletes make smart food choices for improved overall health and performance on the playing field. Coaches should also work in partnership with parents, family members and any other support systems involved with an athlete. This creates a holistic healthy eating environment where your athletes will be able to eat well at home, at school and any other spaces in the community where they train and compete. When the healthy choice is the easy choice, athletes are more likely to eat and perform better.
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Hydration
It’s important to help your athlete’s make a hydration plan that will allow them to stay balanced with their hydration needs on and off the field. Too much or too little hydration can potentially have life-threatening consequences. Most importantly, the key to long-term success is empowering your athletes to take control of their own hydration plan.
Downloadable Resources:
Advance your Knowledge – Take the Training:
- NCCP Sport Nutrition eLearning
- NCCP Prevention & Recovery of Injury Workshop
- Air Quality & Outdoor Sport Safety eLearning (FREE)