Background Floorball is a popular team sport in Finland. Previous studies have revealed that injuries are a significant problem in adult floorball. However, epidemiological studies of injuries in youth floorball are lacking. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence, type, and severity of injuries in young floorball players.

Methods One-hundred-fifty-six female (n = 57) and male players (n = 99) (mean age 17.1 ± 1.6 years) from nine floorball teams participated in the study. Injury data as well as practice and game exposures were collected over the 12-months period (from May 2013 to April 2014). An injury was defined as having occurred in an organised floorball practice or game, and having resulted in the inability to participate in floorball training or playing for one or more days. Severity of injury was measured by number of days lost from floorball training and playing.

Results The players reported a total of 136 injuries, of which 63% were traumatic and 37% were from overuse. The overall incidence of injuries in female and male players per 1000 practice and game hours was 4.5 (95% CI: 3.48 to 5.79) and 3.0 (95% CI: 2.41 to 3.76), respectively. Incidence of traumatic game-related injuries in females was 45.1 per 1000 game hours (95% CI: 30.98 to 65.67), and 19.9 (95% CI: 12.87 to 30.65) in males. The majority (76%) of injuries occurred in the lower extremity, and the most commonly injured body part was the ankle (24%), followed by the knee (23%) and the lower back (13%). Thirty-three percentages of all injuries resulted in less than 1 week time-loss, 30% in 1 to 4 weeks time-loss, and 37% in more than 4 weeks time-loss from sports. Thirty-one players had over 8-week absence from training due to a severe injury.

Conclusions The injury risk in youth floorball is high. The lower limb is the most commonly injured body area. Rather many of the injuries are severe resulting in long-term absence from sports.