Injury prevention in Amateur soccer: A nation-wide study on implementation and associations with injury incidence

Abstract

Prevention programmes can reduce injury risk in amateur soccer. Hence, we examined the implementation of injury prevention in the real-world context of Swiss amateur soccer. In 2004 (n = 1029), 2008 (n = 705) and 2015 (n = 1008), a representative sample of Swiss amateur soccer coaches was interviewed by telephone about the frequency of injuries in their teams, the implementation of preventive measures and the use of injury prevention programmes. In the 2015 survey, 86.1% of amateur coaches stated that injury prevention is important and 85.3% of amateur coaches reported that they would implement some kind of preventive measures. The proportion of teams which performed a prevention programme according to minimal standards remained unchanged between 2008 (21.7%) and 2015 (21.9%), although a second prevention programme was made available in 2011. Only 8.6% of the 30+/40+ league teams, which are composed as a function of age, implemented a programme. Overall, the level of implementation of prevention programmes in this real-world context is still unsatisfactory. Offering an additional programme did not lead to a higher willingness to implement such programmes among the coaches. Concerted efforts are needed to remove barriers that hinder the use of such programmes, particularly among coaches of 30+/40+ league teams.