Blade stunner: Agony turned to advantage

NO pain, no gain proved a useful motto for a group of students who turned an agonising accident to their advantage in the BT Young Scientist and Technology competition.

Darerca O’Sullivan, 16, was playing Gaelic football when she twisted her knee and snapped her cruciate ligament while wearing her first pair of boots to have blades on the soles instead of studs.

“The blades wedged in the ground, so the boot didn’t turn with my leg and the ligament snapped,” she said. “I’d always had studs and they’re round so they turn more easily in the ground. It got us thinking about the injury rate among players who use blades.”

Darerca and friends Rebecca McAree and Deirdre Hayes, transition-year students at Sacred Heart Secondary School, Clonakilty, Co Cork, produced a questionnaire which attracted 833 replies from schools, GAA and soccer clubs and physiotherapy practices.

“The results were really clear,” said Rebecca. “Of all those who’d had injuries, 63% were wearing blades instead of studs. But of those who had knee injuries, 93% were wearing blades.”

Deirdre said: “Blades are really popular now because they’re cheaper and they’re easier to walk on off the pitch, but Manchester United have banned them and it looks like they could be right.”