Constantly spraining your ankle? Waking-up the morning after a game with aching muscles? Knees not as flexible as they once were due to overuse? Then an Injury Prevention Workshop aimed at sharing knowledge and experience with County football’s Young Leaders on Thursday 10th December at the County Office in Chelmsford could be just for you!
While it’s difficult to avoid injuries completely due to the impact nature of football, a great number of routine knocks, bumps and bruises can be prevented with improved conditioning and technique. The latest Essex County Football Association workshop, due to run from 6:00pm until 8:00pm in Chelmsford, may reduce the likelihood of future harm. Subject matter at the event will include stretching, warming up, cooling down, diet and nutrition, considering weather and playing conditions and overuse injuries.
Lower-back problems and tendon inflammation are just a couple of the injuries often experienced by grassroots footballers, though a large percentage are sustained without the involvement of impact. With better preparation and after-care, they may even have been averted. Elaine Hume, who is renowned as a regular FA-qualified instructor of first aid courses on behalf of the ECFA and Dan Bates, Workforce Development Officer at the County Office, believes the skills learned at the evening could prove vital.
“This workshop aims to give participants an overview of common injuries that occur in football and the measures that can be taken to help prevent these,” he explained. “This is the first of several events we plan to run specifically for Young Leaders throughout the year and injury prevention was a topic they highlighted where they’d welcome support and guidance. We hope that they’ll be able to use the information to help them identify injuries and put into place measures to reduce the likelihood of these occurring.”
If you’re between 14 and 19 and would like to book a place, complete the booking form available at on the right and return it no later than 30th November 2009. The course is limited to twelve places, to be allocated on a first come, first served basis. For further information, or a hard copy form, contact Dan Bates on (01245) 393077 or E-Mail dan.bates@essexfa.com.