Protecting Young Athletes: How Warming Up Can Prevent Injury When it comes to your child playing sports, you likely already know the importance of hydration, sleep, and proper equipment. But one thing that might not be on your radar—warming up! It’s a small step that could make a big difference in preventing injuries, especially in sports like soccer, basketball, and volleyball where knee and ankle injuries are the most common.1 If you’ve ever seen your child dive for a voll

I am currently an MPH student at Northwestern University studying Community Health Research, and I hope to become a physician who works with young athletes in the future. At 14 years old, I was a level nine gymnast with a broken back. Well, I had stress fractures on the lumbar vertebrae of my low back. Like many other young athletes, I was later diagnosed with "repetitive trauma.” In fact, amongst the many athletes I met during my time as a Big Ten student-athlete, almost all

Youth League: Preventing Injuries Related to Youth Sports Ka'Derricka Davis is a current MPH candidate (2021) and Research Assistant at Northwestern University. She is an aspiring physician who is passionate about women and children's health, injury prevention, and health equity . On Chicago’s West side, the beginning of fall marks the start of public school football season. During that time, I expect to see young people on grassy fields who have improperly stretched for the

Some of my most memorable experiences during middle school and high school came from my time on sports teams. I made rich, lasting friendships with my cross country and track teammates and developed a love for fitness that continues today. For other student-athletes, however, their participation in sports teams can have a different, more serious, lasting impact: traumatic brain injury (TBI). Traumatic brain injury is caused by trauma to the head that disrupts normal function