Training hurting healthy children

ANNABEL HENNESSY PUSHY parents and coaches have been put on notice to give sporty kids at least two days off training a week and a six-week break from sport each year.

News Corp can reveal the Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians is developing new guidelines to protect children from overtraining and being pushed into specialising in the one sport from an early age.

Set to be introduced in 2019, the policy will be informed by US protocols advising coaches to give young players at least 1-2 days off training a week and six weeks off sport annually.

It comes as doctors call for children to be discouraged from playing the same sport all year round to avoid damage to growing bones.

Despite concerns about the obesity crisis among the inactive young, at the other end of the scale hospitals are reporting an increase in children with overtraining injuries.

Sports injuries are the number one reason for youth admissions. In some cases children as 10 are undergoing partial knee replacements because of overuse injuries.

One reason given is the number of winter sports also being played in summer.

In the case of summer soccer, the number of junior players in NSW have jumped 300 per cent in the past five years from 7293 to 20,000.

Professor Gary Browne, of Sydney Children Hospital’s Children’s Institute of Sports Medicine, said he was seeing more “adult-type injuries” in children because they had been overtraining.

“These children are often doing the same training day after day with little variation,” he said.

He believes children should wait until at least 16 before specialising in one sport.

“Children should take a combined three months off per year from a specific sport in one month increments but remain physically active during that time,” Prof Browne said.

Physiotherapist Chris Hickey of Gymea Physiotherapy is treating children as young as eight for overuse injuries.

“Overuse injuries are more common than acute injuries but parents can be less aware of them,” he said.

Dr Adam Castricum, president of the Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians, said US guidelines would be considered along with other research in drawing up the new policy.

Overtraining could result in “burn out” and dropping out from sports, he said. While parents shouldn’t let fear of injuries stop their children from competing it was important to have balance when competing.

“With growing levels of childhood obesity it’s important children are staying active and enjoy sport,” he said.

NSW Sports Minister Stuart Ayres said he supported moves to ensure coaches struck the right balance.