The use of a lower extremity injury prevention program by female soccer players before the completion of puberty may mitigate movement changes that develop during puberty and contribute to post-pubescent females` greater anterior cruciate ligament-injury risk. It is unknown whether club soccer coaches are using injury prevention programs with younger athletes and if player age is associated with soccer coaches` knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors surrounding injury prevention programs. Fifty-four coaches of female soccer teams from Oregon and Washington states (USA) completed a web-based survey. Associations between team age (U9-U14 teams=57 and U15-U19 teams=19 teams) and coaches` (a) attitudes and perceptions; and (b) injury prevention program awareness, adoption, and implementation fidelity were assessed. Coaches of U15-U19 teams perceived injuries to be more of a problem and soccer to present a high risk of injury. Coaches of older teams more strongly agreed that preventive exercises should be performed by their players during training. Injury prevention program awareness among coaches of U15-U19 and U9-U14 age groups was 79% and 60%, respectively. Injury prevention program-aware coaches of U15-U19 teams were more likely to use an injury prevention program than injury prevention program-aware coaches of U9-U14 teams (67% vs. 38%), but they were not more likely to do so with high fidelity (60% vs. 54%). Team age is associated with coaches` short-term perceptions of injury risk, but not perceptions about the long-term ramifications of injury. Educating coaches about the potential benefits of injury prevention programs for mitigating injury-related maturational changes and the long-term ramifications of lower extremity injuries may facilitate greater use of injury prevention programs by coaches of younger female soccer players. ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR
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