For many student athletes in universities, high schools, and even middle schools, their sport is not just a hobby. It is a job.
In a university setting, it makes sense for large amounts of time to be dedicated to a sport.
Each athlete signed to the university for that sport, so they are going to train as hard as they can to be the best athlete they can be.
In college, students condition in the off-season.
They cross-train and are encouraged to take care of their bodies.
However, according to NIH, nearly 30% of injuries sustained in college sports are overuse, or repetitive stress injuries, despite precautions taken to prevent them.
I think that the reason for this extends back to these athletes’ high school years.
My parents and members of the older generation often tell stories of the sports they played in their youth.
Many middle and high school students played football or volleyball in the fall, basketball or hockey in the winter, and baseball, softball, or track in the spring.
Travel teams and clubs existed, but they didn’t last all year round, and excluding the elite of the elite, they made room for their players to try other sports.
Though there is significant overlap in the muscle groups used to play some of these sports, youth athletes were overall more well-rounded than they are today.
But as national sports leagues like the NBA and NFL exploded in popularity, focus shifted from being good at multiple sports to being the best at one.
Students started travel teams younger and younger, and it became a near necessity to be on one of these elite and absurdly expensive teams to even have a chance of making the team at school.
One glaring example of this phenomenon can be seen in women’s volleyball.
In Illinois alone, there are hundreds of club volleyball teams, many having opened within the last decade to account for the boom in interest in the sport.
Youth volleyball has grown competitive as a result, and at many schools, it is difficult to claim a spot even on a junior high team.
And it’s almost impossible–at least in most suburban schools–for a player to make their high school volleyball team without joining a club, which has a season typically lasting from November through June.
With the high school volleyball season lasting from August to October, this leaves very little time for students to recuperate, cross-train and otherwise prevent injury beyond what is directly instructed in their volleyball program.
Many high schools require conditioning, but this exercise occurs alongside club practices.
Even more than some other sports, volleyball requires repetitive motions, especially in hitters who are constantly jumping and swinging their arm regardless of whether they’re hitting or serving.
Because of this, it is fairly common for volleyball players to develop tendinitis in their rotator cuff, which can make hitting incredibly painful.
And this is just one example. Many other sports, especially team sports such as hockey, baseball and basketball, are similar in many regards.
Baseball specifically is an outdoor sport, but recently indoor baseball and softball have been popularized, further lending to this culture.
I strongly believe there is a link between the constant grind of youth sports and the significant percentage of overuse injuries that occur during college.
If middle and high school athletes weren’t consistently encouraged to dedicate their lives to a single, year-round sport, young athletes would be happier and healthier.
