Injuries resulting from sporting activities are associated with an unprecedented challenge for health care systems across the world. They also significantly alter the affected sportsperson’s quality of life ( Thacker et al., 2004). From the context of sports performance, injuries act as vital barriers to the ability of the team as well as the affected person to achieve their set performance goals ( Hreljac, 2004 ). In numerous sports settings, an injury is often conceptualized as an unfortunate result of participation , and thus it is unpreventable ( Abernethy & MacAuley , 2003). This narrative exists irrespective of increasing evidence that any form of injury that is related to participating in a sporting activity can be reduced significantly. This can be achieved through the deliberate implementation of the most effective preventive strategies ( Hootman et al., 2007). One of the most cited challenges to successful prevention of injuries is failure of coaches to adopt such strategies ( Chalmers et al., 2004). Specifically, the knowledge and attitude of a coach towards the strategies for preventing sport-related injury play a crucial role. The other notable barrier to adoption of the strategies is the cost implication of such injuries ( Cumps et al., 2008). This paper will explore how the safety of athletes can be enhanced, particularly by focusing on the prevention of injuries.
Prevention of Sport-related Injuries
The prevention of sport-related injuries is dependent on the ability of concerned stakeholders to successfully implement multidisciplinary counter-strategies ( Gabbe et al., 2007). Such strategies may be drawn from such perspectives as exercise and sports science as well as public health. Another notable perspective is the notion of strength and conditioning ( Myer et al., 2011). Strength and conditioning is a discipline in exercise science and sports whereby the coach plays a fundamental role in not only preparing his or her team for performance but also ensuring that the process does not compromise their health through injuries. It is due to this role that the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) has emerged ( Lloyd et al., 2016). This association offers guidelines and standards to the coaches. Specifically, the association cites that coaches have a role to play in ensuring that their actions do not cause any injury to their athletes. Likewise, they are expected to take appropriate steps in the event of an injury. Further, the association specifies that the primary role of the strength and conditioning coaches is to offer guidelines to the athletes in injury prevention and nutrition aspects ( Pyne et al., 2014). At the core of the focus on the strength and conditioning coaches is the fact that enhancing their awareness of how and why sports injuries need to be prevented improves the uptake of various injury prevention strategies. On the other hand, it is useful in helping the coaches themselves to fulfill their role in the profession while ensuring the safety of their athletes.
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Various models have been proposed as a means of preventing sports injuries and improving the safety of athletes. A notable model in this regard is referred to as Translating Research into Injury Prevention Practice (TRIPP) ( Finch, 2006 ). The model suggests six steps notably surveying for the injuries; establishing their etiology as well as mechanism of injury; developing preventative measures; evaluating the science in the most ideal conditions; describing the implementation context with the goal of informing the implementation strategy; and lastly evaluating the effectiveness of the likely preventative measure in real-life contexts. Starting with epidemiology or injury surveillance , aids in understanding the extent of the injury and identifying what priorities need to be focused on for the proposed strategies for injury prevention ( Gabbe et al. 2003). Likewise, the causes or primary mechanisms for the injury have to be identified. This identification helps in informing the conceptualization of strategies for preventing the injuries. On determining the injury priorities, it is easy to come up with avenues of mitigating the risks associated with a given set of injury problems. Scholars cite that the development of these strategies ought to be anchored on multiple disciplines Engebretsen et al., 2013). Notable among these include psychology, biomechanics, physiology, and engineering among others. The strategies for preventing sport-related injuries have to be well thought-out for them to be effective. In this regard, scholars have proposed the grouping of the strategies into three. These include education, enforcement, and engineering.
Education-based Injury Prevention Strategies
These strategies place emphasis on improving the understanding of particular injuries and the proposed strategy by the key stakeholders (Batten et al., 2016). These stakeholders include the players, their parents or guardians, and lastly, the coach. This approach is critical for such cases as the recognition as well as the prevention of concussions. Currently, the strategies involved in dealing with concussions are aimed at empowering the players, their parents, and coaches as well as the medical practitioners involved. Specifically, these stakeholders are given information on the symptoms, signs, and return-to-play requirements for players that have suffered from a concussion ( Tol et al., 2014). A previous study in this regard highlighted the success of an education programme targeted at coaches of youth-based American football teams. The program was aimed at enhancing the knowledge of coaches with regard to tackling techniques and reducing collisions during the games. Subsequently, it was established that the program reduced the number of head impacts and thus injuries compared to teams that had not been exposed to such education.
Engineering-based Injury Prevention Strategies
Engineering-based strategies entail such aspects as the design of protective equipment for various sports. It also covers the development of exercise training programs that are capable of enhancing an athletes’ safety by guarding him or her against injury ( Mandelbaum et al., 2005). One notable engineering strategy in this regard is the development and adoption of wearable technologies ( Karkazis & Fishman , 2017). These technologies are aimed at quantifying and monitoring the physical demands that go with competing and training for it. These technologies can be used by coaches as the backbones of their training programs. Two technologies that have significantly grown in popularity in recent years are accelerometer and GPS-based technologies ( Neville et al., 2010).The technologies are notably useful in elite and sub-elite competition levels.
Wearable technologies are used in quantifying a sport’s physical demands. This helps in reducing and balancing the stress associated with competing and training with optimal recovery ( Heiderscheit et al., 2010). This approach helps mitigate the risk of an athlete acquiring an injury. The design and development of exercise programs are also critical in reducing the risk of an athlete acquiring an injury. This can be achieved by targeting the specific risk factor. For instance, hamstring strain injuries can be prevented through improving the strength of the athlete’s eccentric hamstring. This is a clear risk factor for hamstring strain-related injuries. In this context, the training programs employing Nordic hamstring exercise lead to improved eccentric hamstring and thus reduce the risk of injury ( Olsen et al., 2005).
Enforcement-based Injury Prevention Strategies
To ensure the safety of athletes, there is a need for coaches to enforce policies, rules, and practices that have been endorsed by sports’ governing bodies with the aim of preventing injuries so as to ensure that the athletes are safe ( Bizzini & Dvorak , 2015). For instance, a team's management can enforce rules related to the use of risky tackling maneuvers or the recommended staff-to-athlete ratio during training. In this regard, the management may be required to change their rules. By relooking at such aspects as body checking during a game, a coach is likely to reduce the number of injuries significantly ( Macpherson et al., 2006).
Reporting of Injuries
The reporting coupled with documenting of any sustained injuries is a pivotal stage in their prevention as well as any planned rehabilitation process. This is because it helps in identifying particular injury problems. This brings to fore the importance of a team’s culture ( Wiese ‐ Bjornstal , 2010). In some instances, there may be a culture that does not make athletes comfortable when reporting their injuries to management. This culture may be anchored on fear, in which case an athlete is ridiculed by his or her teammates. Likewise, the athlete may be worried that his or her playing time will be reduced due to the injury once the coach or other personnel know about it. The strength and conditioning coaches again play a crucial role in this process. This is due to the part they play in promoting behaviors and attitudes that can be deemed acceptable to the team’s entire management.
In order to facilitate timely and voluntary reporting of any injuries, the strength and conditioning coaches have to work cooperatively with numerous sport-specific coaches numerous stakeholders within the team or club, and the athletic trainers. This is in a bid to facilitate the creation of a culture whereby all athletes irrespective of role and experience in the team feel comfortable and encouraged when reporting any injuries that they might have ( Petersen et al., 2010). While changing an already existing culture is not an easy task, it is crucial for any forward-looking team to do so for the sake of ensuring its players’ safety. A notable strategy of accomplishing this is the need to borrow from such crucial disciplines as behavioral culture.
Given the role of sports in the society and the amount of investment that goes into sporting outfits, the need to ensure the safety of athletes cannot be overemphasized. There is a need to understand, predict and prevent sports-related injuries. This is especially due to the impact that the injuries have on not only the individual athlete but also the society as a whole.
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