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In brief: To clarify the risks involved in soccer, 4,018 children and adolescents on 253 teams were studied. One hundred seventy-six injuries occurred, a rate of 4.38%. The rate decreased as the teams got younger. Competitive teams had higher rates than recreational teams in each age category, and all but two of the injuries that required surgery occurred in the competitive leagues. The ankle was the most commonly injured joint, followed by the knee. These results indicate that soccer is a comparatively safe sport.
McCarroll et al. (Wed,) studied this question.