INTRODUCTION: Already in youth competitive sport, high physical and mental demands in children and adolescence have been observed (Baur et al., 2008). Due to a large number of health-related issues adequate physical treatment and medical support is required. The aim of this study was to evaluate sports medical and performance assessment and especially of in young athletes. METHODS: In this mixed-methods research, qualitative and quantitative methods have been combined. First, qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with young athletes, coaches, medical employees and further supportive staff-members (N = 22). The transcripts of the interviews were then processed using the analysis method of Mayring (2015). Based on these results, an online questionnaire was created and answered by young competitive athletes of different sport disciplines (N = 300; 16.8±1.4 yrs; 47.7% female). The statistical evaluation using unpaired T-Tests was conducted using IBM SPSS (Vers. 27). Significance was accepted at p<0.05. RESULTS: The average of total training time of the subjects was 13.1 (±6.7) hours per week. Athletes desired to have more medical support (61.2%) and sports scientific support (51.3%). Surprisingly, more than 40% of athletes had no resting and stress ECG examination for at least one year. It was shown that significantly more athletes have already suffered from an injury (85.3%) compared to uninjured (14.7%) (P < 0.001). The group of uninjured athletes was significantly younger than the group of those who had already suffered from an injury (P = 0.009). Most frequently injured body parts were lower extremities (ankle/foot/toes 59.0%; knees 45.3%) and upper extremities (forearm/hand/fingers 51.7%). The most common types of injuries are bruises (69.0%), muscle or ligament strains (58.0%), and inflammations (42.0%). CONCLUSION: The results show that a large number of young athletes has already been injured and an association between the age and the appearance of injuries has been found. According to young athletes sports medical examinations are required more regularly and have to be standardised for different sports disciplines, in particular for internal and orthopedic examinations. Injury prevention programs which are fitted for the requirements of each sport should be implemented in the training to support young athletes and enable a successful career.
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