Scripps Offers Tips to Avoid Youth Sports Injuries, Burnout

Parents, youth sports coaches and others interested in learning practical ways to improve the youth sports experience are invited to attend a free educational event Thursday, Aug. 25 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla.

The presentation will be led by Scripps sports medicine pediatrician Dr. Paul Stricker, who was a team physician for the 2000 Olympic Games. Dr. Stricker reports a steady increase in overuse injuries and stress-related symptoms among his young patients in recent years. He says these conditions often stem from poor understanding of how children develop their sports skills.

“Children build their athletic abilities in a progressive sequence that we can’t dramatically speed up,” Stricker says. “Better knowledge of this process can help kids withstand some of the excess pressures that exist today in organized sports, due to inappropriate training, unrealistic expectations and a distorted meaning of the term ‘success.’”

Dr. Stricker is the author of “Sports Success Rx! Your Child’s Prescription for the Best Experience,” published by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Copies of the book will be available for signing and purchase following the presentation.

The event will take place at the Schaetzel Center at Scripps La Jolla, located at 9888 Genesee Ave., La Jolla 92037. A light reception will be offered from 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., followed by the presentation from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Cost is free and validated parking will be provided. To register, call 1-800-SCRIPPS.