Be Active, Play Smart - Text Version

We all want to be healthy. Part of a healthy lifestyle is being active. But the stats say that we can do better.

Almost 1 in 3 Canadian children and adolescents are overweight or obese. This may be in part because they sit, on average, 8.5 hours each day.The Canadian physical activity guidelines say that kids, aged 5-17, need to be active for 60 minutes a day. Right now, only 10% of kids are meeting that guideline. That means that if we had a team of 10 kids, only 1 is playing the full game.

Hold on – don’t count yourself out! There’s still time to join the game!

Soccer is a great way for kids to be active and more and more Canadian kids are joining in. In fact, soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world and the fastest growing team sport in Canada. But we all know that sometimes, being active can lead to injury.

Where injuries occur:

Among youth, soccer injuries account for approximately 20% of sports-related emergency department visits in Canada.

The good news is that most injuries are preventable.

In order to prevent injuries in soccer, the Public Health Agency of Canada has partnered with the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), FIFA (the Fédération Internationale de Football Association), and Canadian Sport for Life (CS4L) to implement two soccer injury prevention programs in selected sites:

  1. FIFA 11+ A series of exercises aimed at soccer players, aged 14+, meant to strengthen the core and leg muscles, and improve neuromuscular control, coordination, balance, agility and jump technique. Teams that performed FIFA 11+ at least twice a week had 30 – 50% less players injured.
  2. Movement Preparation uses similar exercises as FIFA 11+ but is geared towards younger soccer players, aged 7-13 years.

Injury prevention allows you to be active and play smart. But why is being active so important?

Join the game! Round up your friends, tie up your cleats, be active and play smart!

Date modified: