Conditioning-related injuries, such as strains and sprains occur most often at the beginning of a season when kids are most likely to be out of shape.
Such injuries are preventable if, before the start of a season, a child follows a conditioning program designed specifically for soccer.
Proper conditioning is particularly important for girls. Not only are girls predisposed to instability or dislocation of the kneecap (patella), pain and problems under the kneecap, but the twisting and cutting in soccer make them particularly vulnerable to non-contact injuries of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), which they suffer at a rate two to ten times higher than boys.
Proper conditioning (especially building up hamstrings and inner quadriceps muscles) and teaching girls to pivot, jump, and land with flexed knees and employ a three-step with the knee flexed instead of a one-step stop with the knee extended have been shown to prevent some of these injuries.