An Innovative Injury Prevention Program for Soft Tissue Injury Reduction in Soccer Players

The purpose of this study was to determine whether an innovative injury prevention program based on the FIFA 11+ for soft tissue injuries increased the participation and engagement levels of children aged between 10-14 years old. The innovative injury prevention program consisted of FIFA 11+ activations turned into fun, recess-like, games. This was also considered a gamification of the FIFA 11+. Current research about the FIFA 11+ lacks studies that seek to understand the low engagement levels in injury prevention programs although they have been proven to be effective. This study conducted a five-week injury prevention program that was built in association with Dr. Cory. After every session, the participants were asked to fill out a five-minute survey where they were asked about their engagement levels during the session and if they would want to participate in the future. The data was collected via the Survey Monkey platform. The major findings of the study were that the participants enjoyed the program and the majority wanted to participate again in future sessions. It can be concluded that turning the FIFA 11+ exercises into fun, recess-like games results in increased engagement levels in the injury prevention program.