Thread: Injuries at 14U

Coaching a 14U team for the first time this year, have only ever worked with 12U before. One of the problems I am having is it seems a lot of my girls are made of glass. I can't believe how many keep having minor injuries or complaining they have a sore knee or ankle or shoulder or arm or they just are not feeling well etc etc...see where I am going with this??
Is this an age thing that they are going through because there bodies are starting to change or have a got a lot of complainers or winers on the team?? Am I being way too soft on them when they tell me this and I just tell them to take it easy then?? How do I know when an injury is an actual injury and most times they just need to suck it up??
I know when I played I never compalined like this and neither did my team mates but that might be a boy thing
FYI.......We are just finishing indoor training now and will be starting our season outside within the next week or so.

Cheers

I think regardless if it's a Rec/HS/TB-B/TB-A team as a coach ya have to sort of take a back seat to this.

Injuries are not something that most coaches are trained enough to evaluate to determine if Sally can get back in there or not.

I think the best thing to do is if you think they are starting to act like pro soccer players that maybe you talk to the parents and suggest what you might be seeing and what they thought about that.

I have coached rec ball and TB-B. In rec ball I had a bunch of soccer players asking for bench time for anything. At TB-B I had girls want to get back up in there with nasty injuries. In each case I put it to the parents to determine the outcome.

My 14U injuries seem to come from other sports, like middle school track! I hate track! LOL

I find that beginning at 14U the wannabes are weeded out and the
girls play harder and become a bit more 'chippy'. I stress the importance of stretching
prior to games and practice as conditioning is a high priority at 14U and higher.
Girls with lazy warm-up habits are more likely to suffer injury

Actually many of the responses to this thread can be dangerous. The majority of knee issues with girls happens at the 14-16 year age. The reports I have read usually attribute the injuries to the difference in muscle development compared to development of the cartilage and ligaments of the knee. So the result is you have a car with 400 HP with no ability to break.

We have had several girls have season ending knee injuries in our club and many were just ordinary plays with no contact. If you have a girl who pitches take extra precaution and have her wear a support on her knee at least until the leg is completely developed.