With the start of a New year comes the start of school for kids across Canterbury and the beginning of the transition from Summer into Autumn (despite the amazing warm weather we have been having!). It also means the start of trainings and pre-seasons for winter sports like rugby, netball and hockey. For many kids and athletes, preseason will mean going from very little activity over the holidays all the way up to 5-6 days of full on activity such as trainings, school sports, gym sessions or running. This sudden increase in activity can lead to overuse type injuries that make up a large proportion of injuries in young people that we see here at Physio4u. Examples of these could be Osgood-Schlatter’s (knee), Sever’s (heel), tendon/muscle strains and even stress fractures. All of these injuries can lead to people having to stop the activities they enjoy.