Prep-to-Play

Many people think that women’s football is a high-risk sport for injury, but little is known about injury rates in community level football. Injury prevention programs within various sports exist, but the use of injury prevention programs in community football is not yet known. The aim of this research program is to understand injury rates and how we can support clubs, coaches and players to include injury prevention programs into their training and game preparation.

We co-designed an injury prevention program (Prep To Play) with the AFL, coaches, players, AFLW staff, and injury prevention experts. The uptake of injury prevention programs is low for many reasons (e.g. time to incorporate, lack of sport specificity, lack of confidence from coaches to deliver). Prep To Play was designed to address common barriers to the uptake of injury prevention programs and was specific to the unique demands and context of Australian Football. Our current program of research is focused on evaluating the Prep to Play program.