Predictors of Sports’ Injuries among Male Professional Footballers in Nigeria
Abstract
Sports injuries have been found to impede optimal sports’ performance. In football, injuries have been identified to result from multiple risks factors and events. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of playing field, climatic conditions, rate of exposure to matches, skill level and competition level on the occurrence and severity of football injuries among male professional footballers in Nigeria. Cross-sectional survey research design was adopted for the study. A total population of 435 participants from thirteen registered professional football club in South-Western part of Nigeria participated in the study. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the participants for the study. The research question raised was answered using descriptive statistics, and the hypothesis formulated was tested using inferential statistics of multiple regressions at 0.05 alpha levels. A researcher-developed data form was the instrument used for data collection. The instrument was subjected to reliability testing using test-re-test method, and a reliability value of 0.92r was obtained. After a baseline examination and measurements were performed ascertaining possible predictors of injury, all prayers were followed up weekly for oneseason during the Nigeria professional league matches to register subsequent injuries and complaints. Three hundred and sixty-four completed the weekly follow-ups over one year. Results showed that playing field, climatic conditions, rate of exposure to matches, skill level and competition level were predictors of injuries among the professional footballers with cal. f-val. of 3.074> crit.f-val of 2.29 at 0.05 df 5 and 405. Playing on natural grass, or third-generation artificial turf, acclimatization, reduction of physical overload, among others, were strategies postulated for preventing injuries in football. The study concluded amongst others that, playing on artificial should be discouraged or improved upon and that the rate of exposing footballer players to match situations should be reduced because the more they are exposed to match situations, the more injury prone they are.
Keywords: Sports Injury, professional footballers, predictors, Male footballers.
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