Risk of Injury Associated With Body Checking Among Youth Ice Hockey Players

Abstract

Ice hockey is a popular North American winter sport, with more than 550 000 registered youth players in Hockey Canada and more than 340 000 registered players in the USA Hockey Association in 2008-2009.^1,2 Despite the advantages of sport participation, there is increasing concern regarding the frequency of ice hockey injuries in youth. Canadian data suggest that hockey injuries account for 10% of all youth sport injuries.^3,4 Body checking has been associated with 45% to 86% of injuries among youth ice hockey players.^5-8 Recently, attention has been focused on the increased frequency of concussive head injuries in youth hockey.⁹ Concussion has been found to be the most common type of specific injury, accounting for more than 15% of all injuries in 9- to 16-year-old players.^7,10