Youth Injury Prevention and Sport Governance: Evidence from USA Hockey's Ban on Body Checking

Due to the growing concern regarding the impact of injuries, particularly concussions, on young individuals in sporting activities, local and national governing bodies have endeavored to enhance player safety. As part of these efforts, USA Hockey implemented a comprehensive regulation reform in 2011 that prohibited body checking in the 12 and under age-category. Our study compares the incidence of injuries and concussions in ice hockey to those in other sports both prior to and subsequent to the implementation of this policy. Our findings indicate that relative to the control sports analyzed, the number of emergency department (ED) injuries related to hockey declined by approximately 40%, while the number of ED diagnosed concussions decreased by approximately 50%. The cost savings from the reduction in ED diagnosed concussions results in conservative estimates of $1,500,000 per year to families of young athletes.