Coaches' experiences of injury prevention in youth elite athletes: An interview study of 10 coaches

Introduction: Injury prevention is important to reduce the high injury risk in youth elite athletes studying at sports high schools. Coaches are considered important in youth elite sports and injury prevention. Objectives: The aim was to investigate perceptions and experiences of injury prevention among coaches at sports high schools. Methods: A manifest qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach was used based on ten semistructured interviews with coaches who work at sports high schools. Results: An overarching theme "Coaches of youth athletes value injury prevention but have limited knowledge and support" was identified and five main categories were formed. Coaches perceived themselves to play an important role in injury prevention, yet they described limited time for knowledge acquisition and highlighted the close collaboration with other professions as a key in injury prevention. Conclusion: A coach's knowledge and support are critical factors in injury prevention of youth elite athletes. Evidence-based as well as non-evidence-based approaches are used, and the biopsychosocial perspective was not always taken into consideration. A need for more interprofessional collaboration and knowledge acquisition regarding injury prevention is warranted.