Youth involvement in sports is huge and the numbers are not coming down anytime soon. Not convinced? Take a walk to any soccer field, gym after school hours or during the weekend and you’ll be shocked to see how large interest and participation has risen.

In the U.S alone, about a whopping 30 million kids and young adults engage in sports. As participation is increasing, so is the occurrence of sports injuries.

Over 3.5 million sports injuries are recorded in a year and this figure represents about 33% of all childhood injuries. The most common injuries experienced by these athletes are sprains and strains.

Here are the sports injury statistics you should pay close attention to.

Over 3.5 m children aged 14 and below gets injured in sports.

Every year, over 775,000 children with ages 14 and below are treated for sports-related injuries in hospital emergency rooms. This injuries resulted from collisions, falls or being struck by an object.

About 2 million injuries, 500,000 visits to the doctor and 30,000 hospital treatments can be accounted to high school athletes. 40% of all hospital-treated sports-related injuries occur within children aged 5 to 14. 62% of organized sports-related injuries occur during practice.

Arm pain is the more prominent injury during baseball as 20% of children ages 8 to 12 and 45% ages 13 to 14. Most sports, playground and bicycle-related injuries occur among children between age 5 – 14 years.

Sports that involve contact and collisions record the highest rate of injury.

Injuries statistics by type of sports and recreational activities

Consider these estimated injury statistics for 2009 from the Consumer Product Safety Commission:

Basketball: Over 170,000 children (ages 5 to 14)  were treated for basketball-related injuries in the hospital emergency rooms.

Baseball:  About 110,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for baseball-related injuries.

Bicycling: Over 200,000 children (ages 5 to 14) were treated for bicycle-related injuries in hospital emergency rooms

Football: About 215,000 children (ages 5 to 14) were treated for football-related injuries in hospital emergency rooms

Ice Hockey: Over 20,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated for ice hockey-related injuries in hospital emergency rooms.

In-line and roller skating: Over 47,000 children (ages 5 to 14) were treated for in-line skating-related injuries in hospital emergency rooms.

Skateboarding: Over 66,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated for skateboarding-related injuries in hospital emergency rooms.

Skiing or snowboarding:  Over 25,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated for snowboarding and snow skiing-related injuries in hospital emergency rooms.

Soccer: Close to 88,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated for soccer-related injuries in hospital emergency rooms.

If your child experiences a sports injury during school sports, or a similar activity, then make sure to visit AFC Urgent Care Beverly to get fast injury treatment!