Youth sports mean summertime fun for thousands of kids each year across Alabama. But as they say it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt.
When you mention the word summer, team sports immediately come to mind for many kids. Sports like baseball and soccer. But the good times on the field can turn into a nightmare for children.
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Just ask Terry Ballew. The former softball coach has seen his share of injuries.
"The worst ones are the face injuries, coming in to catch a ground ball, you know, they stick their nose down there and it bounces up and they don't get out of the way so you see a good many of those," said Ballew.
That's why many ball parks now require some kind of face protection at home plate and even at the pitching mound.
"These new things they call the 'Game Face' are a really good idea. So many of ‘em got braces on you know, big investment; that 25 or 30 dollars for that thing is a, is worth it," said Ballew.
Dr. Tracy Ray runs the American Sports Medicine Institute and serves on the NCAA Competitive Safeguards committee. He says face gear is a good idea, but it won't protect against fractures and lacerations, the most common reasons for a trip to the emergency room.
"You're still gonna see an occasional strike of the bat or the ball to the face or to an arm or a wrist, as well as what generally causes fractures, and that is falls or spills," said Ray.
That's how Savannah Otte broke her arm on a soccer field.
"We were at soccer practice and we were doing suicides, and we had to run forwards and backwards and there were balls on the field and I didn't see a ball and so I tripped over it and I tried to catch myself and it snapped," said Otte.
Her friend, Jennifer St. John, got hurt from another common activity in team sports.
"I had a pulled Achilles tendon because I overused my foot and I didn't stretch it enough," said St. John.
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Dr. Ray says many injuries in baseball, soccer and all sports these days come from overuse.
"Too many pitches, too many throws, trying to throw a curve ball at too early an age, trying to show off for the coach or for a friend or at upper levels trying to show off for a scout or a college scout," said Ray.
Dr. Ray says you can't prevent every injury, but overuse is one problem parents can do something about.
"Check their pitch counts, don't play them in three leagues at once, if they're playing in two leagues, don't let them pitch but in one league," said Ray.
But Dr. Ray says just about any kind of summer activity carries some risk, so the bottom line for kids and parents is reasonable caution and common sense.
Dr. Tracy Ray says the most likely injury to lead to long term health problems is not a concussion, but any kind of trauma to a joint, which could lead to osteoarthritis. He says that's why it's so important to protect your knees and prevent overusing your shoulders and elbows.
