By: Dutch Schotemeyer and Jennie Mann
Transition periods in sports present a higher risk for sport injury, according to many medical professionals. As we return to play after a COVID-19 Lockdown, we are in a high-risk transition period. Complying with current COVID-19 related return to play requirements create additional unknowns for coaches and players and bouncing between different training protocols creates additional transition periods. Current practice plans are being designed to ensure social distancing and compliance with other COVID mitigation requirements; as such strict compliance by players to coaching direction is key to mitigate injury risk as the players return to normal play.
As athletes have not been training at a known level for significant months, players will be returning to the field in varying states of physical condition. Teams with players at various levels of physical conditioning places those players at higher risk of injury. During return periods, special attention should be placed on Heat Acclimatization, Sleep, Nutrition, and Injury Prevention. These factors should be considered routinely, but during times of transition, there is an increased risk of injury and heighten awareness is required.
During standard training regimes, the two most important factors for young athletes to increase fitness levels and speed recovery between sessions are, sleep and proper nutrition. The need for sleep and proper nutrition during this return to play period can’t be over emphasized. This article focuses on returning to play, but it also serves as a primer for all sports injury factors. Please conduct your own individual research.
Returning to Play
When most teams stopped training due to the March 2020, COVID lockdown, temperatures and environmental conditions were generally low impact on the athletes. Temperatures in March are significantly lower than late June and early July as players are returning to play. Routine training in heat over time is the surest method of acclimatization. Players who have not remained in peak physical condition will have a heightened intolerance to heat and will be more susceptible to heat injuries. Avoiding heat injuries is the responsibility of coaches, parents and players as players return to play.
Fitness
It goes without saying that a higher level of fitness is beneficial to the youth athlete. With regards to returning to play, high levels of fitness will mitigate other risk factors, such as environmental concerns, acclimatization, and for short periods of time lack of sleep, poor nutrition, or less than optimal hydration. Generally, athletes with a high level of fitness will also have good nutrition, hydration and sleep habits mitigating many risks to these athletes. Athletes returning in less fit conditions will require heightened scrutiny during this transition period. Parents should have an open line of communication with the coach regarding an individual player’s level of fitness.
The key to fitness is consistency. Consistency in everything that an athlete does; training, hydration, nutrition, and sleep. Today’s youth athlete needs a fitness plan to ensure success and competitive balance on the field. Building training plans around the team plan and tailored to the specific athlete to maximize performance, ensuring adequate rest so as not to over train is vital to an effective return to high fitness levels. Any plan today must take into account factors specific to the current COVID return to play conditions.
Heat Acclimatization
The return to fitness will take time and will likely overlap with the acclimatization process. As parents, you should see practices start to gradually become longer and more intense (provided COVID restrictions allow for this); but maximum physical efforts should not be expected until both fitness and heat acclimatization are actually achieved. This is very challenging for the coach to achieve during the summer months as the temperatures may vary wildly and participation by athletes is also varied due to the time commitments of families outside of the team. Players can do their part by maximizing their fitness, sleep and nutrition so as to minimize the impact of the climate during the return to play.
Hydration
Hydration is critical to the athlete’s performance and health and is not something that can be packed in as the last minute. Nor can proper hydration occur by drinking significant amounts of water on the field. Hydration should be constant and continuous for athletes, and spread throughout the day. Proper hydration will decrease muscle soreness, increase energy levels, and increase recovery for the next training session. Parents and players must make a concerted effort to ensure players are properly hydrated before any sessions where the athlete is expected to perform. Relying on water consumption during training is a path to failure, as hydration can’t be crammed. In the current COVID-19 world, hydration has become an individual effort and all players must ensure they have enough water for themselves at all sessions.
Sleep
Sleep deprived athletes perform at sub-par levels. Adequate sleep is essential for all athletes and their athletic performance, but even more important for the youth athlete. Replenishing sleep improves performance and impacts speed, agility, cognitive ability and reaction time. Additionally, in the young athlete, poor sleep quantity and quality may be associated with an increased risk of musculoskeletal injury. There are many distractions for athletes today, but proper sleep habits are a must.
Players often fail to understand that poor performance due to a lack of adequate sleep impacts more than just the individual player. A sleep deprived player performing poorly impacts the entire team and may have long term impacts on the entire team dynamic. Every coach and parent have at least one has a story of a game where a player or two performed poorly due to inadequate sleep the night before and the entire team suffered. Every athlete has a responsibility to not be that “player”.
As athletes return to play, sleep is a key ingredient on their path to peak performance. Sleep is needed to maximize training sessions and recover after training sessions. Well-rested athletes return to form quicker than sleep deprived athletes. Sleep coupled with proper nutrition creates the basic building block for the quickest return to fitness normalcy and the best defense with regards to injury prevention.
Nutrition
The topic of nutrition is broad and deserves more than a paragraph in a return to play injury prevention post. Suffice it to say, proper nutrition is vital for youth athletes to attain proper growth and perform optimally in sports. Parents need to help young athletes learn what foods are good for energy, when to eat certain foods, how to eat before and during an event, and when and what to eat to assist in recovery after an event. A well-balanced diet containing appropriate amounts of macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fat) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) is essential to provide enough energy for growth and activity. Parents and athletes must take ownership of the Athlete’s nutrition as this is beyond the control of the coach.
Soccer Today has posted a Top 10 list of foods for soccer players here.
Soccer Today has posted a Top 10 list of foods for soccer players to avoid here.
Injury Prevention
There is consensus among medical professionals that prolonged periods with a lack of physical activity increases the risk of injury. According to some studies, lower extremity injuries make up approximately two-thirds of all injuries to youth athletes and soccer likely exceeds that percentage. Following an injury prevention program will help mitigate, but not eliminate some of these risks. Outside of team events, consider the following for your athlete: a pre-participation physical evaluation, a preventative training program, and the avoidance of overtraining.
Pre-Participation Physical Evaluation
If there are concerns about the physical condition of the youth athlete, take them to a doctor for an evaluation. Ensuring that the player is capable of participation is an important step and should not be taken for granted. Regular and routine doctor visits provide an extra precaution with regards to injury prevention.
Preventative Training Program
Injuries to ankle and knee joints are common for soccer players. Strengthening the muscles, ligaments and tendons around these joints will help to reduce the occurrence and magnitudes of injuries. Unfortunately, injuries are part of sport, so any program will be about mitigating risks, vice eliminating injury. The following elements of a preventative training program may be helpful to the youth athlete:
- Dynamic warmup before strenuous exercise;
- Single leg balancing exercises (soccer players engage in significant activity on one foot, so a strong single leg foundation is important);
- Bounding and jumping exercises;
- Running form evaluation (contrary to popular belief, running does not come natural to all, in fact many individuals do not naturally have good running form);
- Cool down stretching (young athletes often fail to stretch after exercise and in fact, do not cool down at all. They often just jump right into the car and drive away immediately after strenuous activity, which may lead to over-tightening of the muscle and potential future strains).
Do not Overtrain
This may be one of the hardest aspects for parents and youth athletes to manage as we return to normalcy post COVID-19. For youth athletes, they often do not know if they are overtraining and it is difficult to judge if they are just “tired” or exhausted from training and really at risk of injury. Parents are the best gauge of this, but it requires keen attention to detail and open lines of communication with the youth athlete and their coach. Engaging in varied activities is a way to mitigate the risk of over-training as the different activities build different muscles and reduce the repetitive action strain.
Risks due to Injury
The youth sport landscape has enough hurdles in it right now and a player becoming injured will lead to reduce participation and further elongation of the return to play timeline. Parents, coaches, and players must be smart about the manner in which they return to the field and competitive environment. When players are tired (exhausted, sleep deprived, over-trained) they are at higher risk of injury.
The following issues generally occur with fatigue and all negatively impact return to play, as well as creating increased risk of injury:
- Diminished strength and explosive strength quality output;
- Poor reactivity to the ground surface,
- they can’t stop appropriately, leading to collisions,
- Players fall and become injured,
- they try to change direction and damage joints or ligaments;
- Hand (foot) and eye coordination suffer;
- Concentration wains during the session;
- Recovery abilities become compromised.
COVID-19 Illness
It goes without saying that all of the above is in addition to our need to follow the applicable COVID 19 protocols. Youth athletes must do their best to minimize exposure and potential illness. Following your municipality’s and organization’s return to play protocols is vital to ensuring everyone is safe and healthy going forward. In most situations, coaches need time between sessions to clear out players and sanitize equipment to help stop the spread of COVID. For additional thoughts on returning to play in a COVID-19 world, please see this article (hyperlink to COVID considerations).
This article was not written by a doctor and does not include medical advice. This is an informative piece to bring awareness to issues that youth athletes face as they return to play. There are significant risks involved in the playing of youth sports and you should consider those and consult with the appropriate medical professionals or other professionals as may be needed for your specific situation.
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About the Authors
Dutch Schotemeyer
Dutch Schotemeyer has an extensive history coaching and training youth and young adults in competitive environments. He spent 20+ years in the Marine Corps, a career culminating with a tour as a Battalion Commander on the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, where he supervised the transformation of more than 11,000 young men into Marines. His coaching career started in 1994 with youth soccer and youth football and continues today exclusively with various school and club soccer teams.
Jennie Mann
Jennie Mann graduated from Purdue University with an electrical engineering degree and playing Division I soccer all four years followed by three years playing semi-professionally. She has coached soccer for over 20 years and is currently the Assistant Varsity Girls Soccer Coach for the local high school and the head coach for two competitive youth club soccer teams.
Jennie’s love for fitness and athletics has been a common thread throughout her life; in addition to her soccer career, she was a National Powerlifting champion in high school, and an Ironman triathlete. Most recently competes in the top 2% in the world in Crossfit for her age group.
References
https://www.gssiweb.org/sports-science-exchange/article/sse-167-sleep-and-athletes
https://www.stamfordhealth.org/healthflash-blog/fitness-wellness/nutrition-young-athletes/
http://nyshsi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/NYSHSI-SLEEP.pdf
I enjoyed reading the excellent Return to play article. It was informative and well written.