Sport participation provides a direct means to attain health-enhancing physical activity; however, sport participation declines during adolescence, and over 85% of adolescent females fail to meet the recommended 60 min of moderate-vigorous physical activity daily. Given the importance of overcoming barriers to sport and increasing equity in women’s sports, the purpose of this systematic review was to identify factors associated with sport participation among adolescent girls and operationalize those factors into theoretical constructs to guide future research. Six databases were systematically searched, and 36 records were included for review. Factors impacting girls’ sport participation were categorized as personal, peer, family, socioeconomic, environmental, or other factors. Of these categories, personal factors, including self perceptions and desirable personal outcomes related to sport, were most frequently associated with sport participation. Most research on girls’ sport participation lacks theoretical framework, so to aid future studies, this review categorized important participatory factors into the constructs of the theory of planned behavior. Future research would benefit from theory-driven prospective approaches to make clear and consistent predictions about factors impacting sport participation, as well as mixed-method approaches aimed to provide more robust understanding of girls’ experiences with and perceptions of factors impacting their participation in sports.

Background: Track and field (T&F) athletes compete in a variety of events that require different skills and training characteristics. Descriptive epidemiology studies often fail to describe event-specific injury patterns. Purpose: To describe the epidemiology of injuries in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) T&F by sex, setting (practice vs competition), and time of season (indoor vs outdoor) and to compare injury patterns by events within the sport. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: Data were obtained from the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program for all indoor and outdoor T&F injuries during the academic years 2009-2010 to 2013-2014. Injury rates, injury rate ratios, and injury proportion ratios (IPRs) were reported and compared by sex, injury setting, season, and event. Analysis included time-loss as well as no-time loss injuries. Results: Over the 5 seasons, the overall injury rate was 3.99 injuries per 1000 athletic-exposures (95% CI, 3.79-4.20). After controlling for injury diagnoses, women’s T&F athletes experienced an 18% higher risk of injury (95% CI, 7% to 31%) and missed 41% more time after an injury (95% CI, 4% to 93%) when compared with men. Among all athletes, the injury risk during competition was 71% higher (95% CI, 50% to 95%) compared with practice and required 59% more time loss (95% CI, 7% to 135%). Distance running accounted for a significantly higher proportion of overuse injuries (IPR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.40-2.05; P < .05) and required 168% more time loss (95% CI, 78% to 304%) than other events. The hip and thigh were the body regions most commonly injured; injury type, however, varied by T&F event. Sprinting accounted for the greatest proportion of hip and thigh injuries, distance running had the greatest proportion of lower leg injuries, and throwing reported the greatest proportion of spine and upper extremity injuries. Conclusion: Injury risk in NCAA T&F varied by sex, season, and setting. Higher injury rates were found in women versus men, indoor versus outdoor seasons, and competitions versus practices. The hip and thigh were the body regions most commonly injured; however, injury types varied by event. These findings may provide insight to programs aiming to reduce the risk of injury and associated time loss in collegiate T&F.

RESULTS: Players were 20.1 ± 1.1 years of age. Across all practice and competition sessions, the mean duration of exercise was 59.0 ± 38.8 min, total distance covered was 2,518.9 ± 2,074.5 m, and estimated energy consumption was 381.7 ± 284.8 kcals. Athletes performed 5.9 ± 7.9 sprints per session, maintained an average speed of 2.8 ± 1.2 km/h, and achieved a maximum speed of 20.7 ± 7.3 km/h. Average HR was 131.9 ± 24.3 bpm, maximum HR was 177.4 ± 32.7 bpm, training load was 70.1 ± 59.3, and cardio load was 76.0 ± 62.2. Recovery duration was 12.8 ± 15.7 hr following practice sessions and 51.3 ± 59.6 hr following competitions (p < 0.001). Holding constant all significant predictors (time of day, exercise duration, total distance covered, estimated kcals, number of sprints, average speed, average HR, training load, and cardio load), formal competition corresponded to 33.8 additional hours of recovery (p < 0.001; 95% CI of β = 27.7 to 39.9; model r 2 = 0.691; adjusted r 2 = 0.687). CONCLUSION: Sufficient recovery is a crucial component of optimal performance in collegiate athletics. Our data indicate prolonged recovery duration following formal competition settings, which could not be explained by workload. Further research on psychological contribution to allostatic load is warranted.

Background As with most sports, participating in Track and Field (T&F) has inherent injury risks and a previous injury often predisposes athletes to a greater future injury risk. However, the frequency and burden of recurrent injuries in collegiate T&F have not been closely examined. Purpose The purpose of this study was to describe the frequency and burden of recurrent injuries in collegiate T&F and compare differences in the time loss associated with initial and recurrent injuries by sex and T&F discipline. Study Design Descriptive Epidemiology Study Methods Data from the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program were analyzed to describe the frequency and burden of recurrent injuries in collegiate T&F between 2009 and 2014. Comparisons of recurrent injury proportions by T&F discipline were made using Injury Proportion Ratios (IPR) and injury-associated time loss comparisons by injury type and sex were made using Negative Binomial Regression. Results Four hundred and seventy-four injuries were reported, 13.1% of which were classified as recurrent injuries. T&F athletes who competed in jumps experienced a lower proportion of recurrent injuries (6.1%) than runners (14.6%) and throwers (19.2%) (Recurrent IPR 0.40, 95% CI 0.18-0.88, p<0.05). When controlling for sex and injury diagnosis, T&F athletes experienced 50% greater time loss from sport following a recurrent injury than an initial injury (95% CI 17%-107%, p<0.01). Conclusions Recurrent injuries in T&F athletes account for greater time loss than initial injuries, despite sex or injury diagnosis. The current study indicates a need for further research to assess factors contributing to time loss. Level of Evidence Level 3