The aim of the recently launched Young Athletes Academy is to help reduce the occurrence of sports injuries among young athletes.
The Academy is part of a comprehensive care approach developed by the Children’s Orthopedic Center and Sports Medicine Program at California’s Bay Area-based Stanford Children’s Health.
Defined, the Young Athletes Academy means a full team of physicians, physical therapists, and athletic trainers will visit area high schools and work directly with students and coaches.
“We aren’t just visiting schools and conducting pre-season physicals,” explains Charles Chan, MD, orthopedic surgeon at Stanford Children’s Health and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, in a media release from Stanford Children’s Health.
“We’re there to educate athletes and develop treatment plans with school trainers and coaches. The goal is to hopefully prevent sports injuries altogether,” he states.
“The plan is to begin partnering with schools and building relationships. By teaching young athletes how to properly stretch, warm up, run and jump, they’ll be less likely to hurt themselves,” adds Scott Larson, executive director of the Young Athletes Academy.
“We’re being proactive and providing learning objectives that will hopefully last throughout a young person’s athletic career,” he continues.
A major aim of the academy will be to help prevent young athletes from experiencing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. The team hopes to reduce the rate of ACL tears by identifying risk factors early and implementing a therapy plan with motion analysis to improve joint alignment and biomechanics, the release explains.
In addition, the team will offer screenings for overtraining and burnout, consultations on the female athlete triad and nutrition, and provide comprehensive concussion management. “We’ll even present a forum to address mental health for athletes,” Larson shares.
For more information, visit Stanford Children’s Health.
[Source(s): Stanford Children’s Health, Business Wire]
