Soccer: Making safety your goal

According to U.S. Youth Soccer, the number of children participating in their programs has increased from 100,000 in 1974 to more than 3,200,000 in 2003. Soccer has eclipsed baseball as the favorite sport of America’s youth—U.S. Youth Soccer has more registered players than Little League. As the popularity of the sport has grown, so too have concerns about safety and injuries.

The American Academy of Pediatrics completed a review of soccer-related injuries in 2000. Of the approximately 150,000 soccer-related injuries that occur each year, 45% occur in participants under the age of 15. This study does not include injuries to spectators, volunteer coaches, and other parents who are involved in the sport.

The purpose of this safety guide is to help you create a safe environment in which young athletes can compete. It covers procedures that coaches and parent volunteers can follow in the event of an emergency, critical injury, and sudden severe weather. It also describes the steps you can take to keep players and spectators safe from hazards and injuries during soccer events.

Supervision is more than just overseeing a soccer player’s activities. Many experts estimate that 80% of athletic injuries result from a lapse of direct or indirect supervision.  
Although soccer programs differ based on the age, gender, and skill level of the players, the activities associated with supervising them are very similar. These areas include:

• Facility supervision: Provide for overall facility supervision, including the safe arrival and departure of participants. Include procedures for special care when an athlete is stranded after a practice or game. Always have two adults present and encourage parental involvement with transportation. Make sure all participants are aware of schedules, and begin and end practice on time.
• Field activity supervision: Attend to field-of-play safety issues, spectator safety, and the use of proper equipment. Some activities can be supervised from a distance; some may require close proximity for supervision to be effective.
• Class/activity supervision: Recognize the hazards and potential injury-causing elements of a particular activity. Here again, close-proximity supervision may be required, especially if a young athlete is attempting an activity for the first time.
• Gender-sensitive supervision: Recognize the potential for sexual abuse and molestation, and take steps to prevent it from occurring. Develop, publish, and follow plans and policies to supervise opposite-gender athletes. Maintain a general rule that an individual coach should never be alone with an individual athlete. Institute a policy of requiring background checks on anyone who may act in a supervisory capacity, volunteer coaches included.
• Emergency supervision: Train supervisors and coaches to be aware of all emergency procedures, how to handle an injury, how to get help, and how to handle peripheral problems until emergency personnel arrive at the scene.

When engaging in supervisory activities as a coach, or assigning supervisory activities to an assistant coach or volunteer parent, it is important to set a high standard of professionalism and accountability to make the supervisory activity effective. Allow for quick reaction time in the event of an emergency and allow for no distractions while an activity is being supervised. Have a plan and a backup plan. Don’t place inexperienced and unskilled supervisors in situations beyond their experience and abilities. (In the event of a lawsuit, plaintiff’s counsel will closely scrutinize this aspect of your supervisory practices.) If possible, match different teaching styles with different learning and training situations.

The person who is accountable for supervision, be it the team coach, assistant coach, or parent volunteer, must be mature enough to handle situations that may arise during practices or games. At a minimum, a coach should be 18 years old. Unless there is a sibling relationship, under no circumstances should a young child be left in the care of another child under the age of 18.