The injury plaguing youth sports

March 1, 2026

It’s among the most devastating injuries in sports. An A.C.L. injury almost always requires surgery and grueling rehab; players are frequently sidelined for a year, sometimes longer. And yet it is also an injury that has become routine in youth sports, especially for girls.

For his article, Craig Welch writes about his daughter’s soccer team whose current and former members suffered an astonishing 19 A.C.L. tears. None of the experts he talked to were surprised. “It’s probably the biggest youth sports issue in the world right now, apart from concussions,” one knee surgeon told him. Read more about why ligament tears have become such a crisis — and how a few simple exercises can help prevent them.

Dru Donovan for The New York Times

Why Are So Many Teen Girls Still Tearing Their A.C.L.s?

For years, ligament tears have been a crisis among young athletes — even though a few simple exercises can prevent them.

By Craig Welch

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