Having learned that one of the most important risk factors for
football injuries is a previous injury, F-MARC realised that
prevention should begin as soon as players train or play at an
organised level.
F-MARC had initially developed a preventive programme for
youth amateur players and proven its effect in reducing injuries by
a comparison with players not following the programme. Shortly
thereafter, a cooperating research group showed that the
"Prevent Injury Enhance Performance" (PEP) programme
effectively reduced the incidence of ACL ruptures in female
football players.
Based on these two initial studies and the meanwhile
accumulated body of knowledge, F-MARC developed a simple, catchy
and time efficient preventive programme called "The 11"
targeting amateur players.
To some extent, improved players´ fitness and skills can
prevent injuries, however, a substantial amount of injuries is
caused by foul play. Therefore, the observance of the laws of the
game, and particularly of Fair Play, is essential for effective
prevention of football injuries.
Accordingly, "The 11"consist of ten exercises plus
the promotion of Fair Play (click on the right to view a
demonstration of "The 11"). In cooperation with the
national accident compensation companies and the respective FIFA
Member Associations, "The 11" has meanwhile been
implemented in countrywide campaigns in Switzerland and New
Zealand. In 2007, an advanced version of the programme called
"The 11+" has been tested in a large study with youth
amateur female players in Norway.
"The 11+" takes new insights from F-MARC studies
into consideration and proved successful indeed as it reduced the
injury rate in this target group by up to a third.
