High Injury Incidence Among Youth in the World's Largest Handball Tournament: A Prospective Observational Study of 17 034 Participants

Partille Cup is the world's largest youth handball tournament. Research among youth handball players, and especially during tournaments, is scarce. The primary aim of this prospective study was to examine the incidence of injuries among youth handball players in Partille Cup. The secondary aim was to compare injury incidence by age, sex, and across days of the tournament. All visits at medical tents were recorded. According to FIFA's suggestion, an injury was defined as any physical condition that prompted a handball player to seek medical care during the tournament. In 2024, 17 034 players participated in the tournament over six consecutive days. A total of 1072 injuries were reported, resulting in an overall injury prevalence of 6.3% (95% CI 5.9%-6.7%) and an injury incidence of 34.9 injuries/1000 player hours (95% CI 32.8-37.0), with no sex differences. Injury incidence increased progressively throughout the tournament, with the lowest rate on the first day (21.4 injuries/1000 player hours, 95% CI 0.4-41.4) and highest on day 6 (46.6 injuries/1000 player hours, 95% CI 34.1-59.0). Injury incidence varied significantly across age groups, with the youngest players (aged 10 and 11 years) exhibiting the lowest injury rates (13.9, 95% CI 7.1-20.6 and 13.4, 95% CI 7.8-19.0, injuries/1000 player hours, respectively). Lower extremity injuries were most common (30%), closely followed by wound injuries (29%) and upper extremity injuries (28%). These findings illustrated the injury patterns observed during a large, six-day youth handball tournament and offer important insights for shaping medical strategies in future handball tournaments.