Nearly half of all of the sports injuries children suffer each year are overuse injuries. There are a number of commonsense steps parents can take to reduce the risk of overuse injuries.

First, before letting a child play on two or three soccer teams at the same time, consider that all the extra wear and tear on the body may lead to overuse injuries years later. Second, set limits. A child is far less likely to suffer an overuse injury if they take off at least three months a year from sports and plays soccer no more than twelve hours per week.