More than 3.5 million children are injured each year playing sports, according to the Stanford Medicine Children’s Health and the Safe Kids Campaign. These injuries often result in lost play time or the inability to play anymore. However, the numbers remain positive. With more than 30 million children playing sports each year, injuries account for just 11 percent of players. 

The most common injuries are strains and sprains, with certain sports leading the way in the number of injuries. In general, 21 percent of all traumatic brain injuries occur while participating in some form of sports or recreational activity, however, bicycling, skateboarding and skating incidents are the leading cause of 50 percent of these head injuries. 

More than 775,000 children aged 14 or younger sought treatment in the emergency room  from sports related injuries. Most of these were the result of falls, being hit by objects, collisions or over exertion while participating in informal sports activities. 

Most sports injuries occur during practice, at a rate of 62 percent. Football saw the highest level of injury with 215,000 children between the ages of 5 and 14 treated in the emergency room. This was followed by bicycling with more than 200,000 children seeking emergency room care and basketball where more than 170,000 children were treated in the emergency room. 

The lowest level of sports injuries were in ice hockey which saw 20,000 children between the ages of 5 and 14 seeking treatment and sledding which saw 16,000 seeking medical care. 

Baseball had one of the highest death rates, with 110,000 children seeking medical care and three to four children dying each year.