Perceived causes, prevention and treatment of male player’s injuries: the case of assela town football club

Abstract

The injury was defined as an incident occurring during a training session or a match and causing a soccer player to miss the following sessions. One important element in determining the causes of injuries and prevention is having a proper understanding of the causes and ways of preventing as well treatment techniques. The purpose of the research was to identify the perceived causes, prevention and treatment of players’ injuries in Assela town football club. The participants of the research were 31; Out of this 25 football players, 2 coaches, 3 administrators of the clubs and 1 team physician were approached. The major instruments in this study were questionnaire, interview, observation and focus group discussion. Both a qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyze the data. Scarcity of proper sportswear, lack of awareness on causes of injury, absence of a qualified team physician, lack of first aid materials, inappropriate training surfaces, overdose of training and inappropriate warm-up, cool down, stretching of the ligaments and joints were the major perceived cause of injuries stated by football players, coaches, administrators of the club and team physician. For this reason adequate sport wears, aware on cause of injuries, qualified team physician and coaches, adequate first aid materials, appropriate training surfaces, appropriate warm-up, cool down and stretching and using RICE treatment where the main preventive and treatment of players injuries. Therefore, depending on the result, it is recommended that concerned bodies such as football players, coaches, administrators of the clubs and team physician should strive to minimize player injuries.