Help reduce injuries by having a fun and fit warm-up with FIFA 11+ Kids
The FIFA 11+ Kids Injury Prevention Program reduces injuries among male football players: a clustered randomized controlled trial.
Al Attar WSA, Bizzini M, Alzahrani H, Alarifi S, Ghulam H, Alyami M, Alzhrani M, Sanders RH. Sports Health. July 28, 2022: 19417381221109224. doi: 10.1177/19417381221109224. E-publishing prior to printing. PMID: 35903029.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35903029/
Take home message
Footballing children who completed the FIFA 11+ Kids program suffered fewer injuries than those who completed the normal warm-up.
Background
Children under the age of 14 sustain almost 44% of all football injuries. Warm-up programs for injury prevention could reduce the number of injuries in this population and future health care costs. However, we know little about the effectiveness of these programs in youth football.
Study aim
The authors evaluated the effect of the FIFA 11+ Kids injury prevention program on reducing the incidence of injuries among male Saudi Arabian football players aged 7 to 13 years.
Methods
The authors conducted a cluster randomized control trial to assess the effect of the 11+ Kids program on reducing injuries in 7- to 13-year-old football players over 1 season (August 2018 – January 2019). The authors sent recruitment letters to 100 male soccer teams (825 athletes) participating in the Saudi Federation of Sports Medicine and Saudi Soccer Federation soccer teams. In response, 88 teams (740 players) agreed and completed the study. The authors randomized 45 soccer teams into the 11+ Kids program (377 athletes). The 11+ Kids program consisted of a 15-20 minute warm-up (7 exercises; 5 levels; focused on balance, core stability and optimization of falling technique) to be performed twice a week instead of a regular warm-up . The control group (43 teams, 363 athletes) performed their regular warm-up regimen, which was defined as basic exercises performed before a match or training to prepare the player for vigorous physical activity. The authors defined an injury as one that prevented a player from fully participating in the next match or training session.
Results
The soccer players who completed the 11+ Kids program had ~57% fewer injuries than players who performed a traditional warm-up. The benefit of the 11+ Kids program appears to apply to contact, non-contact and overuse injuries. The authors provide a detailed overview of the different types of injuries, but in many of them only a few athletes (<5 athletes) had an injury, making it difficult to interpret.
Viewpoints
Overall, athletes who completed the 11+ Kids program suffered 57% fewer injuries than the control group, demonstrating the need for prevention programs such as the FIFA 11+ Kids in youth soccer programs. These findings are consistent with a wealth of research showing that prevention programs work and can be easily implemented in less than 15 minutes. In this study, the coaches used the program just twice a week and saw benefits, suggesting that coaches do not need to completely abolish their existing warm-up programs. While we often focus on high school and college athletes, it’s reassuring to see these programs working for elementary and middle school players.
Clinical implications
Medical professionals should encourage youth coaches to use injury prevention warm-up programs, such as FIFA 11+ Kids, to reduce injuries at this level and promote positive future health outcomes.
Questions for discussion
What is the best way to distribute this information to the youth leagues? Does your youth athlete perform a structured warm-up? Do you think this is easy to implement?
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Written by: Jane McDevitt
Review by: Jeffrey Driban
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