04/23/2026
Torn ACLs in girls/women's sports, and particularly in soccer are at epidemic levels. Girls playing high-level/club soccer year-round face a greater than 1-in-6 chance of an ACL tear during their four years of high school age.
It is nice to see that the professional leagues are at least making the appearance of trying to do something to improve the problem. In addition to women simply being more prone to ACL tears, there are some obvious factors that make things far worse for girls. The playing surfaces and cleats in particular are a major contributor in my informed opinion. I would be concerned about conflicts of interest from these projects when the leagues and in particular the shoe companies are involved in trying to attack and solve this problem.
A torn ACL is a traumatic, life changing injury that generally takes well over a year to recover from and many young soccer players never make it back onto the field. In addition to the injury itself, the mental side of an ACL tear is incredibly difficult to overcome.
The project is an expansion of the effort launched in 2024 by Fifpro, the global players’ union, that takes a holistic approach to addressing high injury rates