In respects to the epidemic of youth sports injuries today, this problem is a little harder to fix.  The problems of sports specialization at a young age, over training, playing through injuries, and a society that feeds off of “there is no such thing as enough” cannot be solved with better shoulder pads or education on hydration in hot weather.  This article, Youth Baseball Injuries: Good and Bad News, highlights this point.  The decrease in youth injuries due to poor equipment has been more than offset by the increase in repetitive/overuse injuries.  These problems are not immediate, thus, convincing a society to change its attitude is difficult.  If your child gets a head injury, you will immediately go to the doctor, have a CT scan, and be instructed on what can be done to prevent this in the future.  If your child complains of a sore arm, limps when he/she walks, or is a injury magnet, you might say, “not enough preparation, let’s get him/her into some more training sessions with the strength coach.” 

Do you know anyone whose child had surgery in their teens?  Have you talked with them about what the doctor said they should have done?  If you know anyone whose child has been severely hurt from playing too much, find out how you can be proactive and ensure the same doesn’t happen to your young athlete.