Spring in Sydney doesn’t just mean better weather — it’s pre-season for soccer, netball, cricket, touch football and tennis right across Burwood, Strathfield and the Inner West. Local ovals like Airey Park and Strathfield Park fill back up with training squads, and so, reliably, do physiotherapy clinics. The injuries we see in the first few weeks of a new season are rarely bad luck; they’re almost always the result of a body that spent winter deconditioning suddenly being asked to sprint, cut, jump and tackle at full intensity.
Why the First Few Weeks of Pre-Season Cause the Most Injuries
Over a winter break, muscles, tendons and ligaments gradually lose some of their capacity to tolerate high, fast, repeated loads. Team sports also demand things that everyday walking or gym training doesn’t — sudden acceleration, sharp changes of direction, jumping and landing, and contact. When pre-season training jumps straight to full-intensity drills and match simulation without a proper build-up, tissue simply hasn’t had time to adapt, and that’s when strains, sprains and more serious injuries happen.
The Injuries We See Most Once the Season Starts
Hamstring strains: one of the most common early-season injuries in any sprinting sport — soccer, touch football, cricket — usually from a sudden sprint before the muscle is conditioned for that speed.
ACL and other knee ligament injuries: common in sports involving cutting and pivoting, such as netball and soccer, particularly when landing or changing direction on a fatigued or under-prepared knee.
Ankle sprains: frequent on uneven ground or when players land awkwardly after a jump or contest — a very common presentation in netball and soccer alike.
Shoulder injuries: overhead and throwing sports like netball, tennis and cricket bowling put repeated load through the shoulder before it’s had a chance to build back up over winter.
Lower back strain: especially common in cricket, from the repeated rotation and loading of fast bowling or hard hitting after months away from those specific movements.
A Physiotherapist’s Pre-Season Checklist
- Get assessed before the season starts: a pre-season screening can pick up old niggles, muscle imbalances or restricted movement before they turn into a missed season.
- Build up gradually: aim for 2–3 weeks of progressive conditioning — increasing intensity and volume in stages — before full-contact, full-intensity training.
- Warm up properly, every session: a dynamic warm-up that mimics the movements of your sport prepares tissue far better than static stretching alone.
- Strengthen the areas most at risk: hamstring and posterior chain strength for sprinting sports, rotator cuff strength for throwing and overhead sports.
- Don’t ignore old niggles: the ache that “was fine last season” is exactly what tends to become this season’s injury if it’s not addressed early.
- Prioritise recovery between sessions: sleep, hydration and adequate rest between training days all affect how well tissue adapts to the new load.
Local Clubs, Local Injuries
With junior and senior sporting clubs training across grounds like Strathfield Park, Airey Park (Alan Davidson Oval) and the ovals around Burwood, we see this pattern play out every spring — a steady rise in soccer, netball and cricket injuries in the first month of the season, tapering off once players are properly conditioned. If you’re heading back into team sport this spring, a quick pre-season check-in is one of the most effective ways to make sure you’re actually ready for it. See our sports physiotherapy page for how we support local athletes through pre-season and beyond.
If pain or a niggle is already holding you back from getting into the new season, don’t wait for it to get worse — book in for an assessment and we’ll get you moving properly before round one. Call us on 02 8322 9022 or book online.
