"Injuries in youth sports are bound to happen. There are about 5.5 million injuries requiring medical care for young athletes each year in the U.S. The problem is that many coaches are not properly trained to make the decision on the field about whether a young athlete can stay in the game or should come out and seek treatment after an injury. The result is that each year One to Two Million young athletes are sent back in to play before they are ready, turning a mild injury into something worse- something I refer to as Secondary Injury. In my own sports medicine practice I will probably see one injury each week that could have been much less severe if the athlete did not return to play before the injury was healed. Making that mild injury worse can result in a week or two of lost playing time turning in to months or more. With proper training, coaches can make a huge positive impact in the lives of their young athletes."

Dev K. Mishra, M.D. Founder, Sideline Sports Doc