11 Injury-Prone High School Sports

Ice Hockey

Played by both men and women, ice hockey may be the most dangerous high school sport.

Ice hockey is played by significantly fewer students than play football, with over 36,500 men and just over 8,600 women playing the sport in 2007-08, according to the NFHS, but they were likely to be injured at a higher rate.

In fact, the UNC study showed women suffering a serious injury at a rate three times higher than the rate for men, and both were tops for severe injuries in any sport.

"Ice hockey and gymnastics had a higher rate than any of them," said Mueller.

While this may surprise some, Comstock, who has begun studying the sport this year, attributes hockey's higher injury rate to the rink.

"One of the differences in injury rates is the playing environment," she said.

While both sports involve high-speed collisions, she said, surfaces can make all the difference.

"In football, they're landing on a relatively soft surface compared to ice hockey," she said.

Also, Comstock noted, the walls surrounding the rink are perhaps the greatest source of injury. "In ice hockey, so much of the contact ends with an athlete striking the boards and the glass," she said.