Youth LaCrosse Players Have the Highest Rates of Equipment Contact and Concussion Injuries

A study in the June 2019 issue of Pediatrics, “Injury Incidence in Youth, High School, and NCAA Men’s Lacrosse,” (published online May 10) compared injury rates and causes among youth, high school and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) male lacrosse athletes for the 2014-15 and 2016-17 seasons. The results from the study showed that younger players have higher overall injury rates than high school and NCAA players and that most of their injuries are equipment-related. While the overall concussion rate in lacrosse is low, the study also showed that younger players tend to experience more concussions. When examining injuries for high school and NCAA players, researchers found that those lacrosse players are more likely to experience overuse injuries or injuries that require time off for rest or recovery and are less likely to experience equipment-related injuries. The authors pose that the reason for higher injury rates in the youth group could be that players are still learning basic skills, such as body positioning and stick gameplay, and as players develop these skills their injury risk decreases. The authors conclude that the study reinforces that injury prevention in lacrosse should be tailored to the type of injuries common at each level of the sport, such as stick and collision injuries for younger players, and overuse and inflammation injuries for older players.

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