Fall brings many young athletes back to the field, court, track, and gym. As football, soccer, cross country, field hockey, volleyball, lacrosse, tennis, and other sports get underway, training and competition can increase the risk of both sudden injuries and problems caused by overuse.
Most young athletes complete the season without a serious injury. However, problems can develop after a rapid increase in activity, repeated stress, an earlier injury that has not fully healed, or a sudden injury during practice or competition.
Knowing which injuries are common—and how injuries in growing children differ from those in adults—can help parents recognize warning signs, reduce preventable risks, and know when to seek orthopedic care.
Common Fall Sports Injuries in Children and Teens
Each sport places different demands on a young athlete’s body. Contact sports tend to carry a greater risk of sudden injury, while sports that involve repeated movements may be more likely to cause overuse problems.
Football
Because football involves frequent contact, players may experience sudden injuries to the shoulder, knee, hand, fingers, and other parts of the body.
A collision or direct fall onto the shoulder can cause a shoulder dislocation, a sprain at the top of the shoulder (often called a shoulder separation), or a broken collarbone. Knee injuries may include ligament sprains or tears, meniscus injuries, and kneecap dislocations. These can happen after direct contact or during a sudden twist, cut, or change in direction.
Hand and finger injuries are also common and can be easy to underestimate. Finger dislocations and tendon injuries, including mallet finger and jersey finger, are among the most common.
Concussions are another important concern in football. Any athlete with a possible concussion should be removed from play immediately and evaluated before returning to sports.
Soccer
Ankle sprains and muscle strains are common in soccer. Knee injuries may involve the ligaments or meniscus and often occur without direct contact—for example, during sudden slowing, an awkward landing, or a quick change in direction.
As the season continues, repetitive activity may also contribute to overuse conditions such as patellar tendinitis (pain below the kneecap), shin splints, and stress fractures in the legs or feet.
Concussions can occur after a collision, fall, or impact with the ball or ground. Symptoms of a possible concussion should always be taken seriously.
Cross Country and Track
Running places repeated stress on the legs and feet, especially when an athlete increases mileage or training intensity too quickly.
Growing athletes may develop apophysitis, which is irritation where a tendon attaches near a growth center. Common examples include Osgood-Schlatter disease, which causes pain at the bump below the knee; Sever’s disease, which causes heel pain; and iliac crest apophysitis, which causes pain along the top of the pelvis.
Shin splints and stress fractures can also occur in runners. Risk may increase when training volume rises quickly, muscles are tight or fatigued, footwear or running surfaces change, or the athlete does not have enough time to recover between workouts.
Lacrosse
Lacrosse players can experience both sudden and overuse injuries, including sprains, strains, bruises, fractures, and concussions.
The pattern of injury varies with the athlete’s position, age, and level of contact. Injuries to the legs are common, while contact may also affect the shoulder, arm, hand, head, or face.
Properly fitted protective equipment, good conditioning and technique, and early attention to symptoms can all help reduce injury risk.
Volleyball and Tennis
Sports that involve repeated overhead motion place significant demands on the shoulder and elbow.
Young volleyball and tennis players may develop shoulder problems involving the rotator cuff, labrum, and other structures around the shoulder joint. Repeated stress at the elbow can also lead to tendinitis, pain along the inner elbow, or irritation of a growth plate.
These problems often begin gradually, with soreness after activity, and become more noticeable over time. Persistent pain, weakness, loss of motion, or difficulty serving or hitting should not simply be played through.
ACL Injuries in Young Athletes
ACL injuries can occur in sports that involve jumping, landing, pivoting, or sudden changes in direction. Research has shown that female athletes have a higher rate of ACL injuries than male athletes in comparable sports.
This difference is likely related to several factors, including anatomy, biomechanics, landing patterns, and muscle control.
Structured injury-prevention programs that focus on strength, balance, jumping and landing mechanics, and safe cutting technique may help reduce the risk of non-contact ACL injuries.
Why Sports Injuries Are Different in Growing Athletes
Children and teens are not simply smaller adults. Their bones and growth plates are still developing, so the same injury may require a different approach to diagnosis, treatment, and return to sports.
When caring for a growing athlete, pediatric orthopedic specialists consider the injury as well as the child’s age, skeletal maturity, remaining growth, and the potential effect of treatment on future growth and development.
These differences can affect several parts of care:
The injury may be different. In children, growth plates (also called physes) may be more vulnerable than the surrounding ligaments. An injury that causes a sprain in an adult may cause a growth plate injury in a younger athlete.
Imaging requires pediatric expertise. Growth plates have a normal appearance on X-rays that changes as a child matures. Recognizing these developmental differences is important when evaluating a possible fracture or other injury.
Nonsurgical treatment is often effective. Growing bones have a strong ability to heal and remodel. Depending on the injury, a cast or brace, activity modification, physical therapy, or another conservative treatment may allow a child to heal without surgery.
Surgical planning must account for growth. When surgery is needed, the location of open growth plates may influence the approach and technique.
Return-to-sport decisions are individualized. Healing, strength, range of motion, skeletal maturity, and the demands of the child’s sport all help determine when it is safe to return.
Growth Plates and Sports Injuries
Growth plates are areas of developing cartilage near the ends of a child’s long bones. They remain open while a child is growing and gradually close as skeletal maturity is reached.
Because they are still developing, growth plates can be more vulnerable to certain injuries than mature bone.
Growth plate fractures can occur near the ankle, knee, wrist, and other joints. Symptoms may include pain, swelling, bruising, tenderness, or difficulty using the injured arm or leg. At first, some growth plate injuries may look or feel like a sprain.
Treatment depends on the location and type of injury. It may include a brace, splint, cast, or, in some cases, surgery to restore proper alignment.
Because a growth plate helps guide the future length and shape of a bone, accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment are especially important. Some growth plate injuries can affect future bone growth, which is one reason evaluation by a pediatric orthopedic specialist may be recommended.
Protecting Growth Plates When Surgery Is Needed
ACL reconstruction is one example of how treatment may differ for a growing athlete.
Major growth plates are located near the knee. During ACL reconstruction, the graft is typically secured through tunnels made in the bones. If a child or teen still has significant growth remaining, the surgeon must carefully consider the location of the growth plates. The technique, graft, and implants are selected based on the child’s age, skeletal maturity, and remaining growth.
This is one reason specialized pediatric orthopedic care matters: treating an injury in a growing child may require a different approach from treating the same injury in an adult.
Which Fall Sports Injuries May Be Preventable?
Not every sports injury can be prevented. Falls, collisions, and unexpected events are part of athletics. However, families, coaches, and athletes can take practical steps to reduce the risk of some overuse and non-contact injuries.
Overuse Injuries
Overuse injuries develop when repeated stress builds up faster than the body can recover.
Apophysitis, shin splints, stress fractures, and tendinitis may be linked to sudden increases in training, year-round participation in one sport, inadequate rest, changes in technique, or insufficient conditioning.
Dynamic warm-ups, gradual increases in training intensity, appropriate rest and recovery, and early attention to pain may help keep a minor problem from becoming a more significant injury.
Non-Contact ACL Injuries
Neuromuscular training programs help young athletes practice safe jumping, landing, cutting, and pivoting mechanics.
These programs may be especially helpful for athletes in sports that require frequent changes in direction and can reduce the risk of certain non-contact knee injuries.
Fatigue and Recovery
Fatigue can affect coordination, strength, reaction time, and movement quality.
Adequate sleep and hydration, good conditioning, scheduled rest days, and a gradual adjustment to heat or increased training demands can help young athletes participate more safely.
Contact Injuries
Some injuries happen despite appropriate preparation. A collision, fall, or unexpected contact can cause a fracture, ligament injury, or another sudden orthopedic problem—even in a well-conditioned athlete.
Although these injuries cannot always be prevented, properly fitted protective equipment, sport-specific technique, appropriate coaching, and physical conditioning can support safer participation.
The goal is not to remove every possible risk from sports. It is to help young athletes participate safely, recognize problems early, and give their developing bodies enough time to recover.
When Does a Sports Injury Need Medical Care?
It can be difficult to know whether a child’s injury requires emergency care, a same-day orthopedic visit, or a scheduled appointment. The right choice depends on how the injury happened and the symptoms your child is experiencing.
Seek Emergency Medical Care
Call 911 or go to the emergency room for serious symptoms, including:
- An open fracture or bone visible through the skin
- An obvious dislocation or significant deformity
- Heavy or uncontrolled bleeding
- A head injury with loss of consciousness, repeated vomiting, or severe or worsening symptoms
Consider Same-Day Orthopedic Urgent Care
The Pediatric Orthopedic Center’s Urgent Care/Walk-In Clinic in Cedar Knolls evaluates recent, untreated orthopedic injuries. Pediatric orthopedic specialists and on-site X-rays are available.
Same-day urgent care may be appropriate after a new fall, twist, collision, or other sudden injury, including:
- A possible broken bone
- A new injury that may involve a ligament, muscle, or tendon
- Difficulty walking or putting weight on an injured leg
- Significant swelling after a sudden injury
- A finger injury that makes it difficult to bend or straighten the finger
- Another recent orthopedic injury that may need prompt evaluation
Urgent care is not intended for long-standing or pre-existing conditions, overuse injuries that developed gradually, follow-up appointments, or life- or limb-threatening injuries. If you are unsure whether your child’s injury is appropriate for urgent care, call our office at (973) 538-7700.
A possible concussion should always be taken seriously. Remove the athlete from play immediately, and do not allow a return to sports until the athlete has been evaluated and cleared. A head injury with loss of consciousness, repeated vomiting, severe or worsening symptoms, or other concerning neurologic symptoms requires emergency medical care.
When to Schedule an Appointment
Schedule a pediatric orthopedic appointment for concerns such as:
- Pain that develops gradually over days or weeks
- Pain that improves with rest but returns with activity
- Recurring pain in the heel, knee, shoulder, elbow, or another joint during or after sports
- An ankle that repeatedly gives way or a knee that feels unstable
- A previous injury that has not fully resolved
- Persistent pain, stiffness, weakness, or a decline in athletic performance
Pain that persists, repeatedly returns, or gets worse should not simply be played through. An evaluation can help identify the cause and guide an appropriate treatment plan.
Helping Young Athletes Stay Healthy This Fall
Sports give children and teens valuable opportunities to stay active, build confidence, make friends, and learn teamwork. Injury prevention should support these benefits—not discourage participation.
Parents can help by encouraging gradual increases in activity, appropriate rest, good conditioning, balanced nutrition, hydration, and open communication about pain or discomfort.
Most importantly, young athletes should feel comfortable speaking up when something hurts. Persistent or recurring pain is the body’s way of signaling that something may need attention.
Pediatric Sports Injury Care at The Pediatric Orthopedic Center
For more than 30 years, The Pediatric Orthopedic Center has provided specialized orthopedic care for children and teens in northern New Jersey.
Our pediatric orthopedic specialists understand how sports injuries affect growing bones, joints, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and growth plates. We treat conditions ranging from ankle sprains, fractures, and overuse injuries to complex sports injuries that require specialized care.
Whenever appropriate, our team emphasizes nonsurgical treatment and works with young athletes and their families to create individualized recovery plans and support a safe return to activity.
If your child has a sports injury, persistent pain, or symptoms that interfere with activity, a pediatric orthopedic evaluation can help identify the cause and determine the right treatment.
To schedule an appointment, call (973) 538-7700 or request an appointment online.
This article is for general educational purposes and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice. If your child has an injury or persistent pain, please seek evaluation from a qualified medical professional.
