Reducing sport injuries

It may be obvious, but warming up is the key in preventing a lot of sports injuries.

ACC and New Zealand Football have joined forces to launch a new sports injury prevention programme.

Sports and recreation injuries cost ACC $474 million in 2015 and it received just under half-a-million new claims.

‘‘Warming up before playing sport improves performance, helps players to become physically and mentally prepared, and is a great step towards preventing injury,’’ ACC Sport Injury Prevention Manager Isaac Carlson says.

‘‘We want to encourage Kiwis to get the most out of their sport by helping them avoid sports-related injuries and staying in the game rather than spending time on the sidelines injured.’’

ACC has teamed up with New Zealand Football and invested in the Sportsmart warm-up programme based on the Fifa 11+ model.

The model has proven to reduce injury by 30 to 50 per cent in teams that performed it at least twice a week.

The programme is now being introduced to 80,000 high school students, 4000 coaches and clubs around the country.

Go to nzfootball.co.nz/fifa-11/ for more information.