TOGETHER WE CAN REDUCE INJURIES IN YOUTH SPORT
Youth sports injuries are on the rise. Power Up to Play champions the simple, proven warm-up that keeps the next generation in the game.
Helping prevent knee injuries in youth sport
Power Up To Play is a charity initiative set-up by medical professionals. Our aim is to improve young player welfare in grassroots sport through prevention of serious knee injuries.
There has been a substantial increase in serious knee injuries in teenagers over the last 20 years. The occurrence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injuries and ACL reconstruction surgery have increased significantly in various countries around the world including the UK.
Latest Activity
PUTP ambassadors active across all 4 UK nations
Growing year on year
Educational website visits in 2025
Grassroots youth players reached
coaches trained free
National conferences presented at
National media coverage
Live across TV, radio & podcast
Sky Sports; Sky News; BBC News; BBC World Service
Raising awareness nationwide
Research &
collaborations
King’s College London
Joint PhD student examining barriers to implementation
FA Wales
PUTP injury prevention module in Level 1 and 2 coaching badges
UK ACL Injury Prevention Strategy Group
Publications
Super JT, Spalding T, Jackson K, et al. Rethinking anterior cruciate ligament injury prevention.
Bone Joint J. 2026;108-B(4):439-441.
Super JT, Spalding T, Jackson K, et al. Anterior cruciate ligament injury prevention: who is responsible for implementation and what are the challenges?
Bone Jt Open. 2026;7(4):491-498.
Free Training For Coaches
We provide free, practical training for coaches so they gain confidence to regularly use the warm-up with their youth players. Training sessions are available in locations across the UK.
Power Up To Play interview on SKY Sports.
Why are there so many ACL injuries in Women’s football: how can we stop this happening.
On Tuesday 13th June, Sky Sports will be joining forces with UK charity Power Up To Play to focus on injury prevention in sport. Simple warm-ups vastly reduce the risk of serious knee injuries. Join us to change this!
Sporting knee injury on the rise
In the last twenty years there has been a 29-fold increase in serious children’s knee injuries that require surgery.
Not only are these devastating at the time, they keep children away from sport for 12 months and can end up having long-term health consequences.
As a group of experts in orthopaedics and sports medicine, we recommend a simple warm-up that when performed regularly reduces these injuries by up to 50%.
Effective Warm-up for Knee Injury Prevention
Programmes like this are being widely adopted around the world. However, adoption in the UK is currently well below many other countries.
In the UK professional sports teams within have been using these programmes for many years.showing them how to use a simple, evidence-based warm-up that reduces serious knee injuries in high-risk sports.
Oxford United FC discuss importance of an injury prevention warm-up