Protecting Soccer Players Starts from the Ground Up: The Importance of Impact Attenuation Testing
Here in Canada, we have a strong, close-knit soccer community performing at all levels of skill. We have drafted several players into the professional leagues, such as Alphonso Davies, one of Edmonton’s very own superstars! Davies was given a $22 Million transfer deal, setting a record for the MLS.
Every soccer player’s dream is to reach the MLS, but how do we get them there? Training, hard work, and dedication are necessary for any aspiring star to make it into the big leagues... but what about safety?
When we think about safety, we often think about players colliding with each other or tripping.
But what about the very surface under their feet? The very thing catching them as they fall?
We often use play surfacing (turf) to increase the resiliency in the ground, or the Impact Attenuation, creating a greater bounce on impact, therefore reducing blunt force trauma & injury.
But have we measured the Impact Attenuation in these sports fields we install?
Have we been performing monthly or yearly testing to ensure the surfacing still prevents injury?
Impact attenuation testing is essential for reducing injury and ensuring longevity in every child’s sports career — whether recreational or professional.
Firms like Quantum Recreation utilize the TRIAX, which tests the Head Impact Criteria (HIC) and the Maximum G’s felt on impact (Gmax).
In training athletes to perform at elite levels, we must increase our safety and injury reduction standards to those same elite levels.
A 2018 study collected quantitative data from 1,129 elite soccer players from around the globe. It concluded the following:
“Ninety-one percent of players believed the type or condition of a surface could increase injury risk.”
The quality and resiliency in the surfaces our kids, youth, and athletes utilize must be held to a higher standard.
Regardless of turf or natural grass, our playing surfaces need to be soft enough for athletes to fall and not succumb to life-altering injuries.
We can measure this by utilizing trained professionals to test the surfacing, providing data and information to measure the force a player will feel as they hit the ground.
