OBJECTIVE To determine the risk of concussion among youth football players (ages 8-12 years). STUDY DESIGN Participants included 468 male youth football players in western Pennsylvania during the 2011 youth football season. Incidence rates (IRs) and incidence density ratios (IDRs) of concussion were calculated for games and practices and for age groups. RESULTS There was a total of 11,338 (...

BACKGROUND Injury has been identified as a potential risk factor for osteoarthritis. However, no previous study has addressed playing-career injuries and subsequent osteoarthritis in a large sample of former athletes. The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence and determinants of arthritis and osteoarthritis in retired professional football players. METHODS Self-reported arthrit...

BACKGROUND There are approximately 2.8 million youth football players between the ages of 7 and 14 years in the United States. Rates of injury in this population are poorly described. Recent studies have reported injury rates between 2.3% and 30.4% per season and between 8.5 and 43 per 1000 exposures. HYPOTHESIS Youth flag football has a lower injury rate than youth tackle football. The concu...

A lot of money is involved with the transfers of top players in the big European football leagues. For various reasons, obtaining a good economic valuation of football players throughout the year is valuable, in other words, not just when a player has just transferred. Furthermore, it is relevant to consider how the market value of a player relates to the performance of that player. Both these ...

People high in rumination are good at tasks that require persistence whereas people low in rumination is good at tasks that require flexibility. Here we examine real world implications of these differences in dynamic, team sport. In two studies, we found that professional male football (soccer) players from Germany and female field hockey players on the US national team were lower in rumination...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate the association between MCT1 rs1049434 polymorphism and indirect muscle injuries in elite football players. One hundred and seventy-three male elite Italian football players (age = 19.2 ± 5.3 years) were recruited from a first-league football club participating at the Official National Italian Football Championship (Serie A, Primavera, Allievi...

CONCERN EXISTS ABOUT THE cardiovascular health implications of large size among professional football players and those players who aspire to professional status. An estimated 4.3 million youth ages 6 to 17 years participated in football in 2000 in the United States, including tackle, touch, and flag football. A 2005-2006 high school participation survey estimated that 1.1 million students part...

OBJECTIVES We examined the echocardiographic characteristics of highly trained American football players. BACKGROUND Intense physical training is associated with morphologic and physiologic cardiac changes often referred to as the "athlete's heart." Echocardiographic features peculiar to elite football players have not been described. METHODS We studied cardiac morphology and function as as...

BACKGROUND There is an ongoing debate regarding the optimal criteria for return to sport after an acute hamstring injury. Less than 10% isokinetic strength deficit is generally recommended but this has never been documented in professional football players after rehabilitation. Our aim was to evaluate isokinetic measurements in MRI-positive hamstring injuries. METHODS Isokinetic measurements ...

All Norwegian football players are insurance covered and most of the severe injuries occurring in Norwegian football are therefore reported to the Norwegian Football Association. Based on these reports a survey of major injuries in Norwegian football in the period 1970-1974 is given. This study has already led to recommendations to the Football Association in order to reduce the number of sever...