Scholastic racing safety statistics?

[skinl19]

Has anyone seen or put together statistics that compare scholastic mountain bike racing injuries with those in other scholastic sports? I don't know if such numbers are kept.

I doubt there are as comprehensive numbers for MTB racing as reported here for other sports but it would be great if we could show that statistically mountain bike racing was safer (I hope)

http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/co...ts/2012-13.pdf

[Berkeley Mike]

Data show cycling very high numerically, even surpassing football. But as cycling is statistically rare as a scholastic sport the comparison is a bad one. Data comes from ERs which did not discriminate for scholastic vs daily life events.

[skinl19]

Thanks, Mike. I have seen the same for cycling as a whole. I guess we could formulate our own stats based on the number of racers, reported incidents, severity of said incidents, etc.

[Berkeley Mike]

I'll give you this. In 10 NorCal seasons running teams of 12-35 there were no casts or crutches and 1 concussion. In those same seasons the same could not be said of football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, gymnastics......but I had the best record in the league. What that says is that it is possible.

[Jfloren]

NICA keeps records of all serious injuries occurring at high school races, and team practices/other team events, for the whole season and across all 10 leagues nationwide. All coaches are required to report such injuries. A "serious" injury is defined as any injury that requires professional medical attention, such as a doctor visit or hospital trip. The numbers of serious injuries are very low. And most of these are actually treat-and-release mild concussions or even "just to be safe" doctor visits after a kid is badly bruised/shaken up in a crash; there have been a relative handful of broken bones. I am not sure whether the statistics are publicly available; PM me if you would like more information. High school mountain biking clearly seems to be much safer than most contact sports, both to my eyes and from the statistics.

[LadyDi]

My son joined a high school team this season. I want him to have lots of fun and, hopefully, avoid injury. I just filled out the NICA paperwork and signed all of the waivers.

[Berkeley Mike]

Your frequent presence as a volunteer for the team will do much to encourage a climate of safety.