Finally!  Fall weather is upon us, but with that,comes a different approach athletes need to take to stay healthy and injury-free.  

As an athlete, I learned years ago that when colder weather hits, it usually hits quickly and our bodies need time to adapt.  This applies to all outdoor Fall sports and neglecting to pay attention to the changing weather conditions can lead to problems.  

So, what should we all be thinking about?  Some of the more obvious tactics would be to take more time warming up and paying attention to what our bodies are telling us. Soccer athletes need more time because they use quick-twitch muscle fibers, using bursts of speed and sharp cuts and pivots on the pitch.  They also activate their quads and hips through the strong kicking motion.  It's a soccer player's reality that hamstrings and quads are the first to get injured when cold weather hits.  I don't want to even get into the fact that female athletes are significantly more prone to ACL or other knee injuries, so proper warmup, good flexibility and proper footwear is key.

We will spend time as a program going over cold weather injury prevention at all upcoming practices and games.  And don't forget, even though it may be getting cooler out, hydration is still as important as when it was hot.

See you on the pitch!