Incidence of Injuries in Elite Spanish Male Youth Football Players: A Season-Long Study with Under-10 to Under-18 Athletes

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyse the injuries sustained by youth football players from a professional team of the Spanish League integrated into an elite academy, considering the sporting context, the month, and the category of the player throughout the 2017–2018 football season. A total of 227 players in under (U) age categories from U-10 to U-18, with two age-groups in each category (A and B), except U-18, with three groups (A, B and, C), were evaluated. Of the 242 cases, 196 injuries were observed. Injury recurrence or different injuries were observed in the same football player during the season, specifically in the older age categories. With regard to the location of injuries, sixteen different parts of the body were associated with injuries, with five of those totalizing the majority of incidence (162 injuries): the ankle (19), the foot (10), the hip (22), the knee (27), and the thigh (74). A negative relationship was observed between the sporting context and the number of injuries sustained (Rho = −0.203; p = 0.002), and a positive relationship between the category and the number of injuries was identified (Rho = 0.488; p < 0.001). Of the total, 118 injuries were sustained during training (62.8%), 70 were sustained in competitive moments (37.2%), and the remaining cases were associated with accidents outside football. The majority of injuries were muscular (101), followed by articular injuries (49), with both combined accounting for 150 of the total injuries. Though no relationship was observed between month and number of injuries (Rho = −0.024; p = 0.707), the months associated with the restart of training routines after interruptions (August, September, and January) were the highest, other than May, in which the highest number of injuries was observed. The findings in this study suggested that it is advisable to carry out a greater number of hours of injury prevention training in U-16 and U-18. Coaches should routinely monitor young players’ development in order to adapt and balance training interventions to individual needs, and they should consider implementing specific injury risk mitigation strategies in youth football based on the long-term development of the football players. Additionally, it is our understanding that it is essential to program, perform, and monitor specific training sessions or even specific training tasks considering the player’s category and long-term sporting development.

Unveiling the Knee Injury Landscape: A Comprehensive Study of Youth Male Football Players in the Central Region of Saudi Arabia

“…In the current study, muscle injuries constituted the most prevalent type, making up 61.5% of all reported injuries, with quadriceps and hamstring injuries being equally common and predominantly occurring during training sessions. The results of the current study are consistent with previous studies [11,12] that found that knee injuries caused the highest burden among injuries and that muscular injuries in general were the most common in youth football players. However, no direct comparison can be conducted because these studies do not specifically address the incidence of knee muscle injuries in this population.…”

“…In general, knee injuries in youth football players predominantly occur during training sessions. The higher incidence of knee injuries in youth football players during training compared to matches can be attributed to factors such as training intensity, physical contact, individual focus, fatigue, and age and maturation status [11,15,16]. These factors contribute to the increased risk of knee injuries during training sessions, while matches may provide a less intense and more varied environment that reduces the risk of knee injuries.…”

Muscle Injuries in Elite Youth Football Academy: A Six-Year Longitudinal Study on the U15 Football Team

“…For young players to develop properly and progress in all aspects of football, regular exposure to training and match loads is essential. The occurrence of an injury sidelines the player from training for a specific amount of time, which leads to a decline in their fitness abilities and disrupts the process of the player's football development [3]. This can also affect young player's well-being and mental health as their ambitions and sports goals are being interrupted [4].…”