DePuy Mitek Expands Commitment To Youth Sports Safety Through New Sports Injury Prevention Program

RAYNHAM, Mass., Sept. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As official sports medicine sponsor of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™, DePuy Mitek, Inc. has launched a national Sports Injury Prevention Program to educate parents, coaches and young athletes about the importance of preventing sports-related injuries. The Sports Injury Prevention Program – including FIFA's 11+ – consists of soccer clinics in 16 U.S. cities featuring appearances by former and current U.S. National Team players and a local sports medicine specialist, who will give young soccer players and their parents and coaches a hands-on opportunity to learn more about injury prevention and treatment. By offering education and digital resources to help parents and coaches provide better care for their athletes, this program closely aligns with the philosophy of the Johnson & Johnson CARE INSPIRES CARE™ platform that everyone has the power to do extraordinary things in caring for the health and well-being of others.

"As a global leader in orthopaedic sports medicine, DePuy Mitek is committed to getting athletes back to their passion and keeping athletes off the sidelines," said Ian Lawson, President of DePuy Mitek. "For many years, we have been educating young athletes how to prevent and manage sports-related injuries through clinics around the country, including an ongoing collaboration with Safe Kids USA. Through our recent sponsorship of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™, we are excited to enhance our educational programming with FIFA's 11+ and add additional clinics and resources."

FIFA 11+ leverages the body's natural defense mechanisms to help athletes become more resistant to injuries by teaching preventive techniques – such as how to properly jump or land. Published scientific studies have evaluated FIFA 11+'s effectiveness and found that teams performing the FIFA 11+ at least twice a week had 30-50 percent fewer injured players.[1],[2]

To date, more than 1,300 parents, coaches and young athletes have participated in clinics in five cities across the U.S. DePuy Mitek is excited to bring this program to the Boston area at an event held in conjunction with Massachusetts Youth Soccer. Cobi Jones, three-time FIFA World Cup™ participant and former Olympian, and Kristine Lilly, one of the most legendary figures in women's soccer, will give young soccer players, their parents and coaches a hands-on opportunity to learn more about  FIFA 11+, as well as tips for sports injury prevention. Dr. Scott Sigman, Chief of Orthopedics at Lowell General Hospital and Team Physician for UMASS Lowell, and Dr. C. Brittany Boisvert of HealthAlliance Hospital are also supporting the campaign, encouraging parents and coaches to put an emphasis on seeking appropriate medical attention if an injury occurs.

"After I suffered a labral tear in my hip while playing soccer, I realized that many sports-related injuries can be prevented and I dedicated myself to helping young athletes learn more about injury prevention," said Cobi Jones. "As a player, I was fortunate to work with coaching and medical staffs that underscored the importance of utilizing injury prevention exercises, which contributed to my healthy and long playing career. In working with DePuy Mitek, I'm excited to educate athletes regarding the FIFA 11+ injury prevention warm-up."

For more information on sports injury prevention, including information about the FIFA 11+ techniques, visit the program's Facebook page [www.facebook.com/SportsInjuryPreventionProgram], Twitter handle [www.twitter.com/@MitekSportsMed] or YouTube channel [http://www.youtube.com/SportsInjuryPrevent1], or check out FIFA's 11+ website [http://f-marc.com/11plus/home/].

About DePuy Mitek, Inc.
At DePuy Mitek, Inc., we are passionate about getting patients back to their passion. As a global leader in orthopaedic sports medicine, we develop minimally invasive devices and non surgical products used in the treatment of joint injuries related to sports and physical activity. DePuy Mitek is part of DePuy Synthes Companies of Johnson & Johnson, the largest provider of orthopaedic and neurological solutions in the world. For more information visit, www.depuysynthes.com.

Cobi Jones is compensated by DePuy Mitek, Inc., the sponsor of the Sports Injury Prevention Program.

The third-party trademarks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

[1] Junge A, Lamprecht M, Stamm H, Hasler H, Bizzini M, Tschopp M, Reuter H, Wyss H, Chilvers C, Dvorak J. Country-wide campaign to prevent football injuries in Swiss amateur players. Am J Sports Med 2010 Oct 17.

[2] Soligard T, Myklebust G, Steffen K, Holme I, Silvers H, Bizzini M, Junge A, Dvorak J, Bahr R, Andersen TE. Comprehensive warm-up programme to prevent injuries in young female footballers: cluster randomised controlled trial. BMJ 2008;337:a2469.

SOURCE DePuy Mitek, Inc.