Knee Injury Education & Prevention

Isabel Lesjak's Girl Scout Gold Award Project


Overview



Youth athletes have become more and more exposed to the high risk of knee injuries and more specifically ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injuries. ACL injuries are most commonly seen in sports such as soccer, football, basketball, and lacrosse, and show that girls are six times more likely to tear it compared to boys. Studies have shown that there has been a tremendous rise with this particular injury due to repetitive knee stress, lack of body coordination to achieve smooth efficient movements, and inadequate form when cutting or jumping. Some have been led to believe that strengthening the legs is simply the answer. Although strong quadriceps and hamstring muscles may play a role in injury prevention, this alone will not be sufficient. When it comes to the ACL, it is more important to learn the correct body positioning techniques for each sport. My goal is to educate families and youth soccer players about the high risk of knee and ACL injuries among student-athletes and offer prevention techniques by me and a panel of experts.

The reason I selected my issue

About two years ago, I suffered an ACL tear and underwent ACL surgery to repair it. I have friends who wished they had known more about prevention techniques before it happened to them I want to be able to help others so they don't have to go through the same thing that I did. I love playing for Vienna Youth Soccer and have a passion for sports.

Families may not know that knee injuries are a reoccurring issue hence the fact that no one is taking the initiative to solve the problem. I believe there isn't enough awareness about prevention techniques/options and therefore, parents are completely out of touch until it happens to their child one day, which was exactly the position I was in. Teens are very busy whether it comes to work, school, sports, or social life. It can be difficult to balance time for everyone's priorities, but I think this should be near the top of the list, especially for high impact athletes.

My Gold Award's global linkage is

Knee and ACL injuries happen all over the world to even a lot of famous athletes you may know. This is a worldwide issue that can be preventable with only some effort and willingness.

Proposed Impact-Measurable Goals and Measurement of my project's success

1) What my audience will learn/gain 

Knowledge about prevention techniques to avoid tearing your ACL.

Youth soccer clubs will gain a motive to make a change in the way they operate their programs. 

2) How I will measure impact

I will see the number of participants who attend my live sessions. 

Once targeted youth soccer clubs incorporate injury prevention techniques into their programing. 

3) When I will measure impact 

I can measure this soon after my session takes place via a survey

A year after everything has been established so it can give them time to implement their change.