Youth Sports & Impacts on Adulthood
Sport and recreation are a fundamental part of childhood and provide an enjoyable means of exercise. In addition, to the well-known physical health benefits to children, sport and recreation also provide mental and social health benefits, such as helping to make friends and encouraging teamwork.
Injuries in youth sports and recreation is an issue of considerable importance. Children are less experienced, skillful, and physically developed compared to adults; therefore, there exist unique injury risks associated with youth sports and recreation. Emerging research of protective equipment (e.g., helmet design in American football), education (e.g., tackle technique in rugby), rules (e.g., body-checking in ice hockey) and playing environments (e.g., artificial turf fields in soccer) have identified effective injury prevention strategies and programs.
This article collection aims to solicit state-of-the-art reviews and original research on the physical, cognitive, psychological, behavioral, developmental, and performance-based impacts of youth sport and recreation (ranging from unstructured play through competitive sports) on adulthood.
Guest advisors
Dr. Declan Patton(Center for Injury Research and Prevention, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia)
Dr. Patton is a biomechanical engineer with a focus to understand the underlying mechanisms of impact injury & to use this knowledge to inform & develop effective preventative measures. Dr. Patton uses experimental, analytical & numerical techniques to solve clinically-relevant biomechanical problems. Specifically, he is interested in the effects of mechanical loading on the brain during a head impact & how such loading can be mitigated to reduce the likelihood & severity of injury.
Prof. Nicola Maffulli(Queen Mary University of London)
Prof. Maffulli is a Consultant Orthopedic & Sports Injury Surgeons. He has published more than 1,500 peer reviewed articles in scientific journals & 12 books & has described more than 40 new surgical techniques in the field of knee, foot & ankle, fracture & sports surgery. A keen free style wrestler & judo player in his younger day, his dream of going to the Olympics was granted in London: he organized the medical services for the judo & wrestling tournaments at the London 2012 Olympics.