Youth Sport Safety Alliance

Youth sport is in a crisis state due to the rising number of injuries that are sustained. This crisis has reached the point where it has become imperative that action must be taken in an effort to protect the athlete. In January, 2010, the “Alliance to Address Youth Sports Safety” summit was held to examine this crisis and to raise awareness of the health care concerns of the youth athlete. This summit was spearheaded by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association and supported by 29 health and sport organizations. With in excess of 7 million interscholastic high school athletes participating in sport, there are close to three fourths of a million sport-related injuries. In 2008 and 2009 there were 120 sport related deaths from conditions such as: brain injury, heat illness and sudden cardiac arrest. This is a true crisis state! From this summit the Youth Sport Alliance has issued a call to action. Information gleaned from the collective knowledge of the professionals in this alliance is valuable and needs to be processed out in an effort to raise awareness of the youth athlete injury crisis. Only by raising awareness, will the current sport paradigm be altered in a way to make the health of the athlete the center of importance.