ODoes Talent Come From Hard
Work or Genetics?
Abby Polzin
Kids Sports Injuries
Every year, thirty million kids participate in sports, and 3.5 million of them will get injuries serious enough that they have to take a break from practice. Of these injuries, the most common are sprains and strains. 775,000 kids get sent to the Emergency Room every year for sports-related injuries. This number only includes kids that are 14 and under. Even though some sports have more contact than others, injuries are very common in the overuse and misuse of a body part. Therefore, it makes sense that a majority of injuries (62%) happen at practice. The most injuries happen in contact sports, but the most severe injuries happen in individual sports. This is because these injuries come from overwork and misuse.
Kids can also experience brain injuries which may result in the death of the child. While it is not common for a child to die from a sports injury, it is possible. The sport with the most deaths each year is baseball with three to four deaths each year. Luckily, this is very uncommon.
From personal experience, it is very hard for a runner not to get injured. The impact from running all the time can easily injure people. Especially if they decide to run a lot of miles without building up to it. Some of the most common running injuries include runner’s knee, achilles tendinitis, hamstring issues, patella fasciitis, shin splints, iliotibial band syndrome, and stress fractures. Many, if not all, of these injuries come from overuse. For example, runner’s knee, or the irritation of the cartilage underneath your patella, can come from sitting for long periods of time and experiencing pain when you get up, or it can appear in the middle of a run. Around 40% of running injuries are some kind of knee injury. In 2010, about 13% of runners suffered through some kind of knee pain.
Since injuries from
overuse are so popular, it
can be assumed that
10,000 hours of practice
may not be beneficial to
everyone.
