Rebound offers advice for ACL Injury & prevention VELOCIT Y!

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1 OCTOBER 27, 2014 ISSUE 5, VOLUME 2 03 Rebound offers advice for ACL Injury & prevention Rec program moves to the Dome VELOCIT Y Champions in Vegas CISC 03 Boys What happened in Vegas, did not stay in Vegas, as the CISC Velocity 03 Boys beat a team from Panama (yes, the country) to win the City of Las Vegas, Mayor s Cup and bring home the tournament trophy. The 03 Boy s made the weather their friend in compiling a 4-0 record, including their 2-0 victory in the final. Prior toy the tourney they had tied the same squad in a friendly match. 1

2 ACL Injury and Prevention: A 2-part Series Provided by Rebound Sports and Orthopedic Physical Therapy ACL Injuries have become almost commonplace among today s high school and college-aged soccer players. The aftermath of an ACL injury is significant and devastating, often forcing players to decrease their level of participation and performance in competitive sports and, occasionally, give up playing altogether. As the incidence of ACL injuries in young athletes continues to increase, injury prevention techniques and strategies become even more important. The following 2-part series will provide relevant information about the ACL and how injuries to this ligament are shaping the way we think about sports training for young athletes. What is the ACL? The ACL, or Anterior Cruciate Ligament, is a prime stabilizer of the knee. It connects the femur (thigh bone) to the tibia (shin bone) and prevents the two bones from slipping on each other. A damaged ACL leads to a feeling of instability and may result in buckling during sport activities. A torn ACL may also contribute to additional injuries to other knee joint structures such as the cartilage or meniscus due to decreased overall joint stability. See a picture of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament below. 2

3 How do ACL injuries occur? The most common way to sprain, tear, or rupture the ACL is by pivoting or twisting on a planted foot while running, cutting, jumping, or landing. These types of injuries are non-contact in nature and occur frequently in soccer. Contact injuries, such as a direct blow to the knee, can also cause ACL tears. Research shows that while non-contact injuries can occur at any time, contact injuries occur more frequently during games. Are ACL injuries common? ACL injuries occur at a rate of over 250,000 per year in the U.S., a figure which has doubled in the last decade. About 70% of these injuries, or more than 175,000 a year, occur during sport. The age groups at highest risk for these types of injuries are females aged and males aged Additionally, female athletes experience ACL tears 4-6 times more frequently than male athletes. The implications of these statistics put the high-school female soccer player, a core group of Cook Inlet Soccer Club athletes, at very high risk for ACL injuries, both during training and during competition. What factors contribute to a higher risk for ACL tears? Current research cites several possible risk factors that increase an athlete s vulnerability to ACL injuries. These risk factors can be classified into three separate categories: anatomical, hormonal, and neuromuscular. Anatomical factors that place an individual at risk for ACL injury include the size of the ACL itself and the boney alignment of the lower limb. Hormonal factors such as systemic estrogen levels are thought to negatively affect the strength of the ACL and other ligamentous structures in the body. Finally, neuromuscular factors such as muscle strength, endurance, control, and an individual s jumping and landing mechanics directly affect knee alignment during sports activities. While anatomical and hormonal factors remain static, proper training techniques and education can control and change neuromuscular factors to better protect our athletes from future injury. What can we do to prevent ACL injury? The incorporation of preventative training into an athlete s regimen to positively affect neuromuscular factors such as strength, endurance, and control, is an essential component of future injury prevention. On field, specific warm-up drills and exercises designed by injury prevention experts at FIFA and other organizations can be implemented by coaches and added into every athlete s daily and weekly training routine. Injury prevention programs such as the FIFA 11+ have been shown to decrease injury risk by as much as 30-50%, with some studies showing decreases of almost 70% Additionally, specific, individualized ACL injury prevention programs have been used with smaller groups of athletes to decrease injury risk by as much as 75%. How can Rebound help with this? Rebound Sports and Orthopedic Physical Therapy is strongly committed to improving the awareness and implementation of injury prevention techniques in Anchorage. To this end, Rebound will be providing soccer-specific injury prevention training to the coaches of the Cook Inlet Soccer Club. This training will provide coaches with current information on proper mechanics, how to assess and manage injury risk, and on how to implement on-field warm-ups and training that have been shown to reduce ACL injuries. Rebound will also be providing small-group ACL Injury Prevention Classes at the South clinic during the winter for those wishing to participate in individualized, targeted instruction and strengthening. 3

4 OCTOBER 27, 2014 ISSUE 5, VOLUME CISC Fall Recreational League The 2014 CISC Fall Recreational League hit the ground running in early October. The momentum from a fantastic 2014 Summer Recreational Season helped bolster the Fall Season which is the biggest CISC has seen the Fall League in a few years. Currently, the league has 34 teams competing from U6 to U19. Games take place on Saturday mornings at the Alaska Dome starting at 9AM and concluding with the U10 games at 12 noon. Admission to the Dome is free during the recreational games, so feel free to check out some of the CISC up and coming players on the recreational side. CISC has also teamed up with NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America) to offer FREE coaching modules to all the CISC Recreational Coaches. These modules are age group specific and will allow our recreational coaches to get the training they need to offer their players the best opportunity to learn and grow as soccer players. If you are interested in coaching in the CISC Recreational Leagues, contact Brad (Director of Recreational Programs) in the CISC office. The 2015 CISC Winter Recreational League is beginning to take shape. Games begin January 10 and end on March 7th. Registration for the CISC Winter Recreational League is open on the CISC website. If you would like more information on the Fall, Winter or Summer recreational leagues feel free to contact the CISC office at

5 Cook Inlet Soccer Club (CISC) Sponsors 5