There were 1.35 million injuries that sent people to the emergency room in 2012. The majority of the injuries were a sprain or strain. Sports injuries are a thing to take seriously in HS sports according to Janet Loehrke from USA Today in 2012. They can happen to anybody at anytime in a sport. Some can also be prevented. In this essay stuff will be said about what kind of injuries are most common, what sports have the most injuries and my opinion on how to prevent sports injuries.  

Also according to Janet Loehrke from USA Today in 2012 the ER injuries in HS sports are as follows: sprains or strains, fractures, Contusions (bruises) and abrasions (scrapes), concussions, laceration, dislocation and other injuries. Sprains and strains were the most common injuries, fractures second, contusions and abrasions third, concussions forth, other fifth, and laceration and dislocations are sixth and seventh. Football was the most dangerous sport with 394,350 injuries but basketball was right behind with 389,610 injuries.

There is an estimated 300,000 concussions each year in all sports according to Loehrke. Football with the most concussions with 58,080 concussions. Concussions happen when the brain hits the side of their head. In football that usually happens when there is a head to head collision between two or more players. It can also happen when someone’s head hits the ground really hard and bounces back up. Most concussions happen to people between the age of 12 and 15. Another common injury is broken and fractured bones, a lot of the time it’s a finger leg or arm. We can still prevent some of these injuries from happening.

One way to prevent concussions and fractured bones is by better tackling by teaching the players how to tackle. One new way of tackling comes from Pete Carroll the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Hawk tackling is when a player goes for the other players legs to tackle them instead of their chest which is a lot better and safer. Another thing to do to prevent injuries is better helmets.One helmet is made by Vicis, when it is hit hard it gives out a little and crumples but then bounces back  to absorb the energy. This makes it less likely to get a concussions and other head injuries. The new helmet has chin straps that connect inside the helmet to curb energy flowing through the jaw. Bryan Gruley and Peter Robison reported on this helmet on January 11, 2016.

Injuries are a thing in High School sports especially in Football. Not all of them can be prevented but a portion of them can with better tackling and helmets. So the 1.35 million injuries can be reduced with two things. Better equipment and better ways of playing on the field.