Injuries in sports are becoming more and more common and there may be a way that people could prevent some of them from happening.

According to an article on Stanfordchildrens.org, there are over 3.5 million sport related injuries to children and teens each year.  Some of these injuries may be preventable. Concussions are one of the most common injuries that occur in high school sports.  A study on Prevacus.com said that that head injury alone accounts for around 15% of reported sports related injuries at high schools that have at least one athletic trainer on staff.  High school ahtletes also sustain an estimated 300,000 concussions every year.

“I have suffered from at least four concussions in my football career and I think that they all could have been prevented somehow.  Whether or not it was me who lowered my head or the other player the injuries could have been avoided if we kept the head out of the play,” sophomore AJ Dizillo said.

According to other players, the coaches are trying to teach them how to not tackle while leading with their heads and not use their heads while blocking.  They are teaching a method called “hawk tackle” teaches a tackler to not lead with their head and not hit the other player’s head.

One of the common yet devastating injuries that a player can sustain is a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).  An injury like this can take anywhere from 6-12 months to recover from starting from when the repairing surgery occurs to when you complete the rehabilitation process.  An article on health.usnews.com stated that a New York Knicks team physician performs about 4-6 ACL reconstruction surgeries a week so the injury is far from common.

Sophomore Brendan Goggins, who suffered his ACL injury while lifting weight, seconded this statement by said that, “I do not think it could have been prevented in any way.  Just an accident.”

Another Timberland student, junior Dylan Curtis, suffered a knee injury and does not think it could have been avoided either.

“When I injured my knee it was a non contact play which leads me to believe that it was just a freak accident,” Curtis said.

While there are obviously more sports related injuries that an athlete can sustain, these are two of the ones that happen a lot and are devastating in their respective ways

.