Injury Surge: A recent surge in injuries has made coaches and players wonder the cause behind them

Rodrigo “Rodri” Cascante, a Spanish football star, tore his ACL on Sept. 22, furthering his long term argument that playing too many games in one season is damaging for athletes. 

After starting in his first Premier League game this season, Rodri, tore his ACL after only 22 minutes. 

For professional and amateur players alike, injuries such as ACL tears and ankle injuries have become a serious problem. The recent increase of these kinds of injuries is caused by the type of cleats the athletes wear, an increase in turf fields, playing too many games in a short period of time and the age of soccer players. 

Varsity Boys Soccer coach Jamie Kelly stated that the increase of ACL tears and ankle injuries could be partially due to the field material. 

“Grass is forgiving. When you slide on grass, you’re not gonna roll your ankle.” Kelly said. “The dirt gives away with the cleats and feet, so there are less ankle and knee injuries.” 

Along with the material the field is made of, the length of spikes on cleats have proven to be causing more injuries for players. According to a 2017 study by the National Library of Medicine, the build of cleats is a major factor in decreasing the risk for injury. 

The study concluded that wearing soccer cleats with shorter spikes spread throughout the entire sole of the cleats proved to have less risk of injury than cleats with longer spikes at the front and back of the sole. 

“Those [Cleats] that don’t give in the turf, like the long ones, if I plant and I turn, my foot stays but my knee keeps going, is where the pop [ACL tear] happens,” Kelly said. 

Kelly said that players have switched from cleats with long spikes to shorter, rounded spikes. 

Playing several games in a short period of time can also cause an increase in injuries, according to complaints from premier league players such as Virgil Van Dijk and Rodri. 

With East players transitioning from playing Elite Clubs National League to playing high school soccer takes some physical adjustment due to the condensed schedule. 

Kelly explained that the high school season is 15 regular season games in two-and-a-half months with the possibility of five post-season games at the state tournament. But club soccer is a two to three games a month for six months. 

“We train and play games five days a week, where in club, you’re training maybe two days a week, maybe three, and then you have a game on the weekend, so it’s more spread out,” Kelly said. 

Adjusting from club to high school soccer has caused coaches to change the way practices look.

C-Team Boys Soccer and ECRL Player Harrison Lock said that coaches have started doing less intense exercises when they’ve played or are about to play more than one game in a week. 

“Instead of running, say, 10 laps, you juggle for a bit, or do light passes against a wall, instead of blasting balls across the field,” Lock said. 

Injury prevention has become more of an integral part in weekly training at East over the past ten years. 

The Boys Varsity Soccer team meets with an injury prevention specialist every Friday to improve player’s movement and the mechanics to run faster.  

Kelly explained that elements such as learning to push off on your back are essential to keep players healthy. 

“Just training how to do those little things will help prevent you from getting injured.” Kelly said.