Do you warm up before your game?
Agree with your thinking
Sport,
Injury prevention
Winning try? Or out for the season?
Ko te piro toa? Kei raro rānei e puta ana mō te tau?
Sport’s a huge part of our culture. From rugby to waka ama, it’s in our blood. We want you to be safe, but we're also here to support you if you get injured.
We believe in the benefits of physical activity and want to help you remain on the field instead of side-lined with injuries.
However, if you sprain your ankle on the netball court or get a concussion at a whānau sports day, we’re here to help you to recover well, avoid re-injury and get back to what you enjoy doing. That’s why last year we helped 209,507 people recover from sports injuries.
We also partner with a range of sporting organisations across Aotearoa to reduce the chances of you getting side-lined in the first place. This includes helping around 250,000 people last year to learn warm up skills.
Working with partners to keep you safe
The ACC SportSmart programme helps players of all levels to get match-ready and minimise the risk of injury through learning good warm-up skills.
We work with a range of organisations including NZ Rugby, NZ Rugby League, Netball NZ, NZ Football, and Touch NZ to educate payers, coaches and referees about how to prepare well for their specific sport and remain injury free.
Other key partnerships include:
AIMS Games
For several years we've been on the ground at AIMS Games teaching coaches, parents, and players how to recognise and manage concussion, as well as promoting our ACC SportSmart warm up programmes to prevent other injuries. It's the biggest sporting event in New Zealand for intermediate school-aged kids.
IronMāori
We've partnered with IronMāori to promote whānau wellness and support good preparation for individual wellness journeys
Māori Television
We're proud of our ongoing partnership with Māori Television. Our latest campaigns looked at waka ama, kapa haka, netball and IronMāori; celebrating Māori playing sport well, safely and knowing the importance of rest and recovery
Māori Sports Awards
We also help to celebrate Māori sporting success by sponsoring the Individual Māori World Champion Award at the Māori Sports Awards.
In 2018,
209,507
people had a sport injury.
In 2018,
250,000
people were taught warm up skills.
We've seen an
18%
increase in gym and fitness injuries since 2014.
Find out more stats and facts on sporting injury claims:
Five tips to prevent injuries
There are a bunch of ways you can reduce your risk of getting hurt on the field:
- Warming up before any activity, whether it's before kapa haka practise or before you jump on the field has proven to reduce the risk of injury
- Use the right protective equipment. Whether it's putting your helmet on when riding your mountain bike, wearing the right shoes for netball or touch rugby, or a mouthguard for league or basketball, get it on
- Take the time to learn the skills. This could be using the right technique when lifting in the gym or making a tackle in rugby
- If you do get injured, don't rush back into action; you could re-injure yourself. Take your time to get better first
- Prioritise rest and recovery time. That doesn't have to mean staying on the couch. You can do a lower intensity activity like walking or yoga as a great option too.
For more ways your whānau can keep active, prepare well and avoid injury, check out these links:
Young women in sport: Are we training them all wrong?
One myth about sport every parent should know
Fewer injuries on the rugby field: Here's why
Find out more on how we help with prevention, care, and recovery
More information about how we can help if you're injured because of an accident
Find out how we can help if you're injured because of an accident:
