Soccer
An estimated 1.1 million Australians aged 15 and over played soccer in 2019–20. There were 3,300 injury hospitalisations attributed to soccer—2,750 male and 530 female. This is 1,650 less hospitalisations than the year before. For those aged 15 and over, the rate of hospitalisation was about 228 per 100,000 participants.
The highest number of hospitalisations was in the 15–19 age group (Figure 1).

Source: AIHW NHMD.
For more detail, see data table A14.
Almost half of hospitalisations were fractures (49%), and one third were soft-tissue injuries (33%) (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Soccer injury hospitalisations, by type of injury as a proportion, 2019–20

Note: Type of injury is derived from the principal diagnosis.
Source: AIHW NHMD.
For more detail, see data table A25.
There were 153 hospitalisations for concussion (4.7%).
The main injury was most often to the hip and leg (47%), followed by the shoulder and arm (23%) (Figure 3).

Note: Body part injured is derived from the principal diagnosis.
Source: AIHW NHMD.
For more detail, see data table A26.
Where it was specified, the most common cause of injury was contact with another person (Figure 4).

Source: AIHW NHMD.
For more detail, see data table A27.
Seasonality and COVID-19
Because soccer is a winter sport, injury hospitalisations are usually highest between April and August. The interruption caused by COVID-19 lockdowns is evident in the drop in injuries from March 2020 (Figure 5). There were around 74% fewer hospitalisations from March to June in 2020 than the same period in 2019.

Notes
1. Months have been standardised to 31 days.
2. A scale up factor has been applied to June admissions to account for cases not yet separated.
Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.
For more detail, see data table B3.