The CDC reports that over half of all sports-related injuries each year occur among youth athletes. Because these injuries can have implications on current and future health, prevention of such incidents is vital. Healthcare practitioners are in a unique position to not only offer treatment, but also to educate and advocate for injury prevention at multiple community levels. This article summarizes the current statistics on youth sports injuries while examining the healthcare practitioner's role in injury prevention. The social ecology model is used as a framework to demonstrate how practitioners may advocate at both the micro- and macro-levels within a community.
