Demand on players leading to injury, new study reveals

The constant demands on young GAA players is contributing to high instances of hip, groin and thigh injuries, according to a recent study.

Athlone Institute of Technology lecturer Siobhan O’Connor, who was involved in the research, says that there is not enough communication between coaches to reduce risk factors.

“We found working with adolescent players, that 30% of our participants played hurling and football equally, so they didn’t have a dominant sport as such,” O’Connor said. “I have assessed players who have played two or three matches in one day and you ask them, ‘Can you think of the last time you didn’t train? When was the last time you had a break?’ And they can’t even remember that.