M.Phil. (Biokinetics) / As with any other athletic activity, football participation carries an inherent risk for injury. Inadequate rehabilitation and incomplete healing have been identified as some of the key reasons for the high levels of injury in football. The majority of football injuries occur in the lower extremities. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between functional movement patterns and injury in junior football players. South African youth development players (119) participated in the study. This study adopted a quantitative and descriptive research approach. An injury questionnaire (retrospective) was completed and Functional Movement Screening (FMS) was used to assess each participant. The relationship between injuries suffered previously and FMS score was analysed. Kolmogorov-‐Smirnov and Shapiro-‐Wilk tests were used to determine normality. A Levene’s test for equality of variances was conducted. Independent sample t-tests were used to test inter-group differences. The confidence level was set at 95% (p≤0.05). The findings reflected that injuries, in this group, were prevalent with 87.3% of the sample having sustained a previous injury. Lower limb injuries were the most prevalent (76%); 58.8% of the lower limb injuries were of a non-contact nature and 41.1% were due to contact. The mean FMS score was 12.9, which, according to previous research, is linked to an increased risk for injury. There was a significant difference in FMS score between players who sustained a lower limb injury, compared to those who suffered an injury to another part of the body (p=0.032). This study found that injury was prevalent in junior football players and that FMS is a useful tool to screen for injury risk. The primary recommendation is for injury prevention strategies to be established in youth development football in South Africa.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:14352 |
| Date | 14 October 2015 |
| Creators | Conley, Simoné |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | University of Johannesburg |
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