Epidemiology of Youth Baseball Injuries From Summer Camp and Tournament Play

Background: With nearly five million participants ages 5-14 and an additional half million players at the scholastic level, baseball is among the most popular youth sports in the United States. Objective: Our objective was to determine the rates, types, and play situations of injuries incurred during participation in youth baseball tournaments and camps. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiological study Materials and Methods: Data were collected during the 2006 season of a prominent baseball league summer camps and tournaments. In total there were 11,241 and 18,469 athletic exposures (AE) (games and practices) in summer camps and tournaments, respectively, among boys 7 to 18 years old. All injuries were entered by certified athletic trainers into a database using Sports Injury Management System (SIMS) software. Results: There were 304 injuries reported during the 2006 season. The injury rate during the camp sessions (19.5 injuries per 1000 AE) was significantly higher (incident rate ratio = 4.23, 95% CI: 3.28 – 5.50) than tournament play (4.6 injuries per 1000 AE). Most frequently, injury occurred during fielding activities (38%), followed by batting (30%) and base running (22%). Contusions accounted for the majority of injuries in both the camp (33%) and tournament (55%) situations. In the 7 to 9 year-olds, head and face trauma comprised 50% of the injuries. In contrast, arm injuries were more prevalent among 12 to 15 year-olds (22%). Overall, 13 year olds incurred 21% of all camp injuries (26.0 per 1000 AE). Conclusions: The overall injury rates were 4 times higher in the camp population. The majority of these injuries were contusions taking place during fielding activities. The highest injury rate was experienced by 13 year-olds, which coincides with a move from a smaller field to a full size field. This information may help to formulate injury prevention strategies in youth baseball.