A Kids Back 2 Sport Practitioner is a healthcare professional who has completed specialist training and has experience in assessing and rehabilitating sports injuries in children and young athletes. Practitioners listed in the directory understand the unique challenges of treating growing bodies and helping young athletes return safely to sport.

The programme is designed for healthcare professionals with a relevant degree level qualification working with musculoskeletal injuries in young people. This may include physiotherapists, sports therapists, osteopaths, chiropractors and other clinicians who have specialist knowledge in youth athlete injuries.

Children and adolescents are still growing, which means their bones, muscles and tendons respond differently to training and injury compared to adults. Growth plates are more vulnerable to overuse injuries and create different conditions that just don’t occur in adults. Understanding growth, maturation and training load is essential to accurately diagnose injuries and guide safe rehabilitation.

Healthcare professionals with a degree level qualification can take the free Kids Back 2 Sport Assessment Quiz and on successful completion are eligible to join the directory. If a practitioner feels they need more training first they can complete the Kids Back 2 Sport Online Toolkit or attend an in-person 2 day course with Angela Jackson, then take the assessment quiz, and register as a practitioner. For more details visit Angela Jackson’s course platform.

The courses teach clinicians how to recognise common youth sports injuries and pathologies, assess the maturity status the athlete, establish an athlete’s baseline capacity and determine when it is safe for them to return to sport. 

Kids are not just mini adults and treating them without specialist knowledge poses a risk not just for the child, but for your professional and local reputation. Joining the directory allows clinicians to attract families looking for specialists in youth sports injuries, develop new professional opportunities with schools and sports clubs, build expertise in paediatric musculoskeletal care, and offer continuing professional development for you and your team.

The directory allows parents, coaches and young athletes to find clinicians who have experience treating sports injuries in children. This helps families feel confident they are seeking advice from professionals who understand the needs of growing athletes.

The directory listing is based on an individual who has completed the assessment quiz. However, clinics can register as part of the Kids Back 2 Sport Centre of Excellence programme designed for clinics who want to ensure that all skeletally immature patients are only treated by professionals who have passed the Kids Back 2 Sport assessment process. This helps clinics build a new revenue stream and develop a strong reputation locally and the “go to” clinic for children and youth athletes. Please apply to us for more details.

Practitioners focus on evidence-based rehabilitation that considers growth, development, training load and confidence. The goal is not just to treat the injury, but to help young athletes return to sport safely and reduce the risk of future injuries.

Healthcare professionals interested in joining the programme can take the Kids Back 2 Sport Assessment Quiz or enrol in an in-person or online training toolkit and complete the assessment to become listed in the Kids Back 2 Sport directory.