Document Type

Honors Thesis

Major

Athletic Training

Advisor(s)

Christopher Nightingale

Committee Members

Mark Haggerty, Alicia Lacy, Sid Mitchell, Bryan Schopieray

Graduation Year

May 2022

Publication Date

Spring 5-2022

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis was to assess the efficacy of the FIFA 11+ injury prevention program when used over the course of one soccer season in Maine high school athletics when compared to a standard warm-up approach. Every year, nearly two million injuries are sustained by high school athletes, and the FIFA 11+ program was developed to mitigate the risk of lower body injuries in soccer players. It has been shown to reduce the incidence of injury by one third or more in teenage and older athletes. Participants were randomly allocated into the FIFA 11+ group and the control group. The participants used their assigned warm-up program for the duration of their season. The results showed a statistically significant reduction in the number of injuries sustained by the FIFA 11+ group compared to the control group. The time lost due to injury was not statistically significant. The FIFA 11+ group suffered a total of 4 injuries with 97 days lost and the control group suffered 17 injuries resulting in 194 days lost. The four injuries sustained by the FIFA 11+ group were all serious and/or season ending while the control group sustained three serious and/or season ending injuries. The results suggest that the FIFA 11+ program may be effective in decreasing the incidence of mild to moderate injuries.

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