b'la have worked closely with USA Baseball and Little League to pre-vent these injuries with studies examining pitch type, pitch count, and pitching mechanics in youth pitchers as well as examining the risk factors for these injuries in adolescents.Pitch count rules have now been established in Little League Baseball in all 50 states, and there has been a 35% decrease in the number of injuries among high schoolers.In order to avoid these overuse injuries, Dr. Andrews supports sports sampling among youth. Its a myth that kids need to spe-cialize, he believes. He points out that 222 of the 253 players se-lected in the 2017 NFL draft played more than one sport in high school and 90% of Super Bowl LIII players were multi-sport ath-letes.These are players who have stayed healthy enough to play into adulthood and werent burned out too early.Dr. Andrews says that 70% of young kids participating in sports drop out by the age of 13 and lose the benefits of exercise, teamwork, and healthy com-petition.This is often due to pressure from coaches and parents and just getting tired of playing.Dr. John Polousky, a pediatric orthopedist and sports medicine specialist at the Andrews Institute in Plano says, Not all patients become professional athletes, but we want all of them to become professional adults who are healthy.The focus on injury preven-tion is key.In his book Any Given Monday: Sports Injuries and How to Prevent Them, for Athletes, Parents, and CoachesBased on My Life in Sports Medicine, Dr. Andrews writes,I think it is essen-tial to point out that the old adage is true; an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.As logic should tell us, an uninjured joint is always superior to a surgically repaired one.Yet many young athletes are being pushed to a point where their bodies are wearing out far faster than they should be.He also writes, Families come to me to put their dream back together, but I want to make sure that parents and coaches understand how to prevent those dreams from shattering in the first place.The other key to prevention is proper training, even accreditation, for youth coaches on prevention and recognition of injuries.In the state of Alabama, a curriculum provided by Andrews Sports Foundations is being used for mandatory accreditation as part of the Coach Safely Act.In April 2018, the state legislature passed a law mandating that all paid and unpaid youth coaches must pass a 2-hour free online course on prevention and recognition.Playing sports promotes a healthy lifestyle that goes on for kids entire lives to keep them involved in sports and an active lifestyle, Dr. Andrews stresses.The goal of the Andrews Institute is to help to keep them on the field, in the gym, on the course, or in the water. Most of all, the hope is that theyre having fun.Editors Note:Dr. Andrews book Any Given Monday: Sports Injuries and How to Prevent Them, for Athletes, Parents, and CoachesBased on My Life in Sports Med-icine includes a handbook on specific suggestions for 26 individual sports from lacrosse to football to skiing and snowboarding. It is published by Simon and Schuster and available on Amazon. Dr. Andrews has been key in establishing the STOP (Sports Trauma and Overuse Prevention) campaign. (Go to www.stopsportsinjuries.org for more information.)38GoodLifeFamilyMag.comSEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019'