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Safety Tips 

To help your child avoid sports injuries, follow these safety tips from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, and other sports and health organizations. (Note: These tips apply to adults, too.)

• Before your child starts a training program or plays competitive basketball, take him or her to the doctor for a physical exam. The doctor can help assess any special injury risks your child may have.
• Make sure your child wears all the required safety gear every time he or she plays and practices. Knee and elbow pads protect against scrapes and bruises, and mouth guards prevent serious dental injuries. Eye protection is recommended (eye injuries account for about 2 percent of injuries, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association). If your child wears glasses, talk to the eye doctor about sports eyewear.
• If your child is under age seven, encourage the league to use smaller, mini-foam or rubber balls. These balls are lighter weight and easier for young players to handle.
• Insist that your child warm up and stretch before playing.
• Teach your child not to play through pain. If your child gets injured, see your doctor. Follow all the doctor's orders for recovery, and get the doctor's OK before your child returns to play.
• Make sure first aid is available at all games and practices.
• Talk to and watch your child's coach. Coaches should enforce all the rules of the game, encourage safe play, and understand the special injury risks that young players face. They should never allow players to hold, block, push, trip, or charge opponents.
• Inspect the court for safety. Baskets and boundary lines should not be close to walls, fences, bleachers, or water fountains. The goals and the walls behind them should be padded. If your child plays outside, make sure the court is free of holes and debris.
• Above all, keep basketball fun. Putting too much focus on winning can make your child push too hard and risk injury.

Who Is Affected?

Basketball is a popular sport, especially among children and young adults. But the sport carries a risk for injury, whether played in an organized league or with friends on a local park court. More than 200,000 young people under age 15 are treated in hospital emergency departments each year for basketball-related injuries. This makes basketball the fourth leading cause of injury in both unorganized settings and organized community team sports.

Injuries to basketball players are usually minor, mostly sprains and strains. The ankle and knee are the most common sites of injury, followed by the lower back, hand, and wrist. Eye injuries also occur frequently, as a result of being hit with fingers or elbows.

At the high school and recreational levels, injuries occur more frequently during practice; college players are injured more often during games. Girls and women appear to have a higher rate of injury than boys and men. And many of the injuries female players sustain are more serious than those of their male counterparts (e.g., knee injuries).

Safety Resources

American Academy of Ophthalmology

AAO (http://www.aao.org/) provides eye safety information for children, including how to prevent sports-related eye injuries. Call 415-561-8500.

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons

Through the public information link on the AAOS home page (www.aaos.org), you can access fact sheets on injury prevention for many popular sports, including basketball. AAOS's phone number is 1-800-346-2267.

On NATA's home page (www.nata.org), you'll find a link to injury information, including statistics and prevention tips. NATA's phone number is 214-637-6282.

National SAFE KIDS Campaign

Visit the SAFE KIDS home page (www.safekids.org) to access fact sheets on sports and recreation injuries, or call 202-662-0600.

NYSSF (www.nyssf.org) has a variety of fact sheets on sports safety available for purchase. Call NYSSF at 617-277-1171.

References 

The data and safety tips in this fact sheet were obtained from the following sources:

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Basketball. Available at http://www.aaos.org/wordhtml/pat_educ/basketba.htm. Accessed July 7, 1999.

American Academy of Pediatrics. Sports Medicine: Health care for young athletes. Elk Grove Village, IL: The Academy, 1991:152,169.

Caine D, Caine C, Lindner K, editors. Epidemiology of Sports Injuries. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 1996:86-97.