About Me and My Project
My name is Evan Abatiell I am currently a senior at Rutland High School. I am very interested in Athletic Training and other related fields such as Kinesiology. I have a vested interest in these fields because as an athlete I have suffered several major injuries. In spending time with people who work in this field I grew passionate about injuries and injury prevention. I will be researching the correlations between playing surfaces, footwear, and injury rates. Pre research I personally think that there is no difference between cleats on a well maintained grass and turf field. However poorly maintained grass fields are more dangerous than a turf field. I will also look at if the type of spikes on the cleat impact injury rate. The focus will be mainly on if screw in cleats tend to create more injuries on turf fields. Screw in cleats tend to have longer and thicker studs then molded cleats and that may cause more tension on knee joints. I hope to educate others on my findings and dispel some myths amongst athletes.
Intro
My STEM project is about the correlation between knee injury rates, the playing surface, and the style of studs in the cleats. Before conducting research I felt that there was no difference between grass and turf under perfect conditions. However perfect conditions are rarely met especially in High School fields. I felt that a grass field that was wet, weathered, or poorly maintained would have a higher incident of injury then a turf field. I also felt that molded cleats would be safer on turf and studded cleats are safer or grass especially poorly maintained grass. I have contacted the National Turf Council and Tyler White who is an athletic trainer at Isport. I have also found several studies online that have been thoroughly conducted and I will test the validity of these. I have also found several credible sources online documenting several incidents where athletes suffered knee injuries at various fields. Lastly, I will be speaking to several athletes who have suffered knee injuries recently. From all of this data I will attempt to consult with several knee experts on what I have found. Additionally, I intend on contacting Matt Gammons who is an expert in knee injuries and lives in the Rutland area. He has worked with athletes from all sports that train on all types of surfaces. His input could provided me with invaluable insight into my research. I have also contacted one high school athlete who has suffered several knee injuries in the past few years. I plan on finding and contacting other athletes as well. I asked her what type of cleat she wore and what surface she was on at the time of the knee injuries.
Intro
My STEM project is about the correlation between knee injury rates, the playing surface, and the style of studs in the cleats. Before conducting research I felt that there was no difference between grass and turf under perfect conditions. However perfect conditions are rarely met especially in High School fields. I felt that a grass field that was wet, weathered, or poorly maintained would have a higher incident of injury then a turf field. I also felt that molded cleats would be safer on turf and studded cleats are safer or grass especially poorly maintained grass. I have contacted the National Turf Council and Tyler White who is an athletic trainer at Isport. I have also found several studies online that have been thoroughly conducted and I will test the validity of these. I have also found several credible sources online documenting several incidents where athletes suffered knee injuries at various fields. Lastly, I will be speaking to several athletes who have suffered knee injuries recently. From all of this data I will attempt to consult with several knee experts on what I have found. Additionally, I intend on contacting Matt Gammons who is an expert in knee injuries and lives in the Rutland area. He has worked with athletes from all sports that train on all types of surfaces. His input could provided me with invaluable insight into my research. I have also contacted one high school athlete who has suffered several knee injuries in the past few years. I plan on finding and contacting other athletes as well. I asked her what type of cleat she wore and what surface she was on at the time of the knee injuries.