Experts Say These Are the Safest Sports for Kids

As parents, we want our children to have fun and participate in activities with their peers, such as sports. But it’s hard when we’re also worried about their safety. Especially with contact sports, there comes the concern about whether the risk is greater than the reward. Fortunately, however, many kids sports exist that are safe for children to engage in.

The Healthy Sport Index examined kids sports data to determine which sports are better or worse for our young boys and girls. We have them ranked here from least to most safe.

More from CafeMom: 6 Important Skills Kids Can Learn With Sports

Boys Football

Kids playing football
ActionPics/iStock

Football is the least safe sport, per this data. And it’s not just children who get hurt playing the game. The sport remains controversial even at the professional level. According to the New York Times, there were 219 concussions that happened during the 2023 National Football League season.

Girls Soccer

Girls playing soccer
Portra/iStock

The lowest-ranking girls sport in terms of safety was soccer. As with football, one of the primary concerns for girls soccer was the rate of concussions. According to the data from Healthy Sport Index, girls saw 7.1 concussions per every 10,000 exposures. That rate was second only to football, which had 10.2 concussions.

Boys Lacrosse

boy lacrosse player
rmfox/iStock

Lacrosse is another contact sport that could be a concern for parents of young boys. The Healthy Sport Index data listed it as below average as regards child safety because it ranked second next to football with the number of player injuries incurred.

More from CafeMom: 15 Fun Activities for Kids Who Don’t Love Team Sports

Boys Wrestling

Boys wrestling
AleksandarGeorgiev/iStock

The entire point of wrestling is constant competitor contact, so it obviously incurs a risk of injury. According to the data, for every 10,000 exposures to the sport, 22.7 injuries occurred. These ranged from serious concussions to injuries requiring surgery.

Girls Basketball

Girls playing basketball
GoodLifeStudio/iStock

For girls, basketball saw the highest rate of injuries that required surgery, per the Healthy Sport Index data. The report noted that 8.2% of injuries resulted in required surgery for the child athlete. Basketball may not be as high contact as football, but it can still lead to accidents.

Girls Lacrosse

Girl playing lacrosse
VAWiley/iStock

Like for boys, girls lacrosse is also not the safest sport to play. Experts gave it a 6.1 out of 10, per the Healthy Sport Index. The injury rate for girls playing this sport was 16.3 out of 10,000 — and of those injuries, 7.9% of them required surgery.

Girls Cheerleading

Girls cheerleading
Mlenny/iStock

Cheerleading isn’t just standing on the sidelines chanting with pom-poms. Girls are also thrown in the air to do flips and other tricks. It’s unsurprising that this is a dangerous sport for participants. It had the highest rate of catastrophic injuries — even slightly more than football for boys.

Boys Soccer

Boys playing soccer
Morsa Images/iStock

Boys soccer did rank safer than girls soccer, mostly due to a lower rate of concussions and injuries requiring surgery. But although girls soccer got an expert rating of 5.7 out of 10 for safety, boys soccer didn’t fare too much better, scoring a 6.6.

Boys Basketball

Boys playing basketball
real444/iStock

Like with soccer, boys basketball fared slightly better than girls basketball. The overall expert opinion on the girls’ version of the sport was that it scored 6.4 out of 10. Boys basketball ranked 7.1 out of 10. Boys aren’t immune while playing, but they’re marginally safer.

Girls Volleyball

girls playing volleyball
FatCamera/iStock

For girls, volleyball is on the safer side. After compiling all the available data (such as expert rankings, injury rates, etc.), the Healthy Sport Index listed a score of zero as being average. Sports that got negative numbers were less safe than average, and positive scores were more safe.

Every sport mentioned in the previous slides had negative scores. Volleyball moved a bit above the zero average at 0.047.

Girls Softball

Girls softball team
kali9/iStock

Softball is an above average safe sport for girls to play. Only 2.4 concussions were reported for every 10,000 exposures. And only 3.7% of injuries sustained required surgical intervention. It still carries some risk, but less so than other sports.

Boys Baseball

Boy playing baseball
barr5557/iStock

Boys baseball was marginally more safe than girls softball. Experts ranked baseball at 7.5 out of 10 compared to the 7.4 that softball got. Considering that the popular sport of football got a dismal 3.9, that 7.5 looks pretty enticing to parents enrolling their kids in a sport.

Boys Track and Field

boy running with a baton
otlphoto/iStock

Track and field is comprised of events such as relay races, pole vaulting, and long jumping. It requires essentially no contact with fellow competitors, and as such it ranked higher with regards to safety. For boys, it scored an 8.2 out of 10, per the Healthy Sport Index experts.

Girls Track and Field

girl running track
RichVintage/iStock

Similar to the male version of the sport, girls track and field is considered to be pretty safe. It got an 8.4 out of 10 from the experts thanks to its low concussion and surgical intervention rates. Only 1.8% of all injuries incurred required the athlete to get surgery.

Girls Swimming

Girls in a pool
Sean Anthony Eddy/iStock

Like track and field, swimming is also an individual sport that doesn’t require aggressive contact. For girls, experts ranked it the No. 1 safest sport, with a score of 8.9 out of 10. If parents have to pick an activity for their child, this isn’t a bad one to consider.

Girls Cross Country

girl runner crossing finish line
Halfpoint/iStock

Cross country is similar to track and field. A majority of the activities are centered on an individual person running. Sure, there’s the variable of running on a trail rather than a track, but it is considered pretty safe. For girls, zero concussions were reported in this sport’s data.

More from CafeMom: 15 Life Skills Kids Should Know by Age 8

Boys Cross Country

boy runner crossing finish line
portishead1/iStock

Cross country is also a decently safe sport for boys. Experts rated it an 8.7 out of 10. It also resulted in just 0.2 concussions per 10,000 exposures to the sport. For children who like to run, this could be a better choice than soccer or football would be.

Boys Swimming

boy swimming
maki_shmaki/iStock

Boys swimming was even safer than girls swimming. Experts gave it a nine out of 10 based on risk versus reward. A whopping 0% of the minimal injuries required surgical intervention, and it had a concussion rate of just 0.8 out of 10,000 sport exposures.

Girls Tennis

girls playing tennis
pixdeluxe/iStock

The safest sport for girls to play is tennis, according to the Healthy Sport Index data. The sport had no reported concussions and a 0% surgical intervention rate for any injuries. Only 3.3 injuries were reported, and none of them were catastrophic.

Boys Tennis

Boy playing tennis
StratosGiannikos/iStock

Like for girls, the safest boys sport was also tennis. It had zero catastrophic injuries reported, zero required surgeries for injuries, and just 0.3 concussions per 10,000 exposures. It’s an individual sport, but schools still often have tennis teams. Kids can play safely while still engaging in a group atmosphere.