An epidemiology of injuries in sub-elite netball during a competitive season: a club perspective

Netball is one of the most popular team based sports within Australia, particularly among females of all ages and skill levels; consequently, many injuries are incurred within the game setting. The purposes of this study were to examine (1) the injury incidence rate; (2) the injury profile; (3) the injured player characteristics, and (4) time spent injured in elite competitive netball. Sub-elite female netball players (78) were recruited from the Booroondara/JHF Power Netball Club during the 2003 competitive season. All participants were volunteers, with parental consent gained for underage participants. At the first training session of each month all participants completed an injury questionnaire and returned it to the researcher in a sealed envelope. Data gained from the questionnaires were coded, stored and analysed using Microsoft Excel and examined via frequencies, averages and percentages. Over the course of each teams respective season 19.9% of players were injured (3.1% injury rate per match). Of the injuries incurred 56% were new injuries and 37% were recurrent. When related to each team, it was observed that ankle injuries occurred at the highest incidence in open age competitions, knee injuries were more common in U/17 competition, and finger injuries were most common in U/15 competition. Overall knee and ankle injuries were found to account for 45% of injuries throughout all age groups. Based on the results of this study it can be concluded that the injury rates of netball participants seem not to have changed significantly from those previously reported. This minor thesis was written by a post-graduate student as part of the requirements of the Master of Health Science (Osteopathy) program