Objectives: The incidence of injuries - in adults, especially professional soccer players - occurring during soccer practice is well-known, but few studies have been conducted on children. We aimed to determine the incidence of injuries in French elite groups aged 13 and 14. Materiel and methods: We studied a cohort of 161 French elite soccer players aged 13 and 14 in a French Regional Academy. Injuries have been documented following the FIFA Medical Assessment and Research Centre guideline (F-MARC) during 5 seasons. Players were divided into 2 groups based on age: U14 (from 13 to < 14-year-old) and U15 (from 14 to < 15-year-old). The number, nature, location, and severity of all injuries were recorded during competition or training sessions. The incidence rate was reported per 1000 h of soccer exposure per player. Results: A total of 43 injuries have been recorded, which represents an incidence of 9.9 injuries per 1000 player-hours, with 31.4 and 7.3 injuries for competitions and training sessions, respectively. The average number of days that players were unavailable to train or play was 10.5 ± 4 days. More injuries were reported after school holiday breaks. Muscle strains were the most frequent injuries (3.4 per 1000 h per player). Osteochondroses were the most frequent injuries leading to non-availability for more than 28 days. Conclusion: School holiday breaks seem to have a great influence on the incidence of injuries. Osteochondroses were serious issues for the U14 and U15 soccer players and were responsible for long-term non-availabilities.
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