About the Project

ASPIRE is a longitudinal observational project designed to better understand the types of structured & unstructured sports/activities children age 5 and older participate in. By tracking the activities and sports, level of play (recreational or competitive), and length of participation, we hope to be able to determine if and when children specialize (focus solely) in sports.

By collecting injury occurrence data, we will be able to determine if there is a relationship between sport specialization and injury occurrence, as well as when sport specialization is necessary to excel in certain sports.

Todd Rockwood, PhD

Todd Rockwood, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Division of Health Policy & Management. He specializes in outcomes research, measurement error in survey research, complex organizations and decision-making, and scale development.

His research in measurement development has been in diverse populations, from adults experiencing fecal incontinence to children with cancer. His work on measurement error in survey research has focused on traditionally identified sources of error with an emphasis on comparisons between mail and telephone administration.

Bradley Nelson, MD

Dr. Bradley Nelson is a Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Minnesota. He serves as the Section Head of Sports Medicine and Shoulder Surgery in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, as well as the Medical Director for the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics.

He is a board-certified sports medicine surgeon specializing in complex knee and shoulder injuries. Dr. Nelson cares for athletes of all ages and abilities. His research interests include knee ligament injuries, shoulder instability, and athletic injuries. He is a team physician for the Minnesota Wild as well as Minnesota Gopher basketball and men's hockey teams.

Jacob Ristow, MD

Dr. Jacob Ristow is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Minnesota. His clinical practice focuses on arthroscopic shoulder and knee surgery. His research interests include complex knee and shoulder surgery and youth sports injuries. He serves as head team physician for the University of Minnesota Baseball and Women’s Basketball teams and assistant team physician for Football.

Marc Swiontkowski, MD

Dr. Marc Swiontkowski is a Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Minnesota. He has a long record of providing excellent care to professional as well as recreational athletes, young and old.

Dr. Swiontkowski has a distinguished career in clinical research and has been interested in the topic of the impact of sports participation on injury for many years. He is currently involved as PI or Co-PI in several clinical trials and brings great knowledge and leadership to this project.

Nicholas Edwards, MD

Dr. Nick Edwards is an Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Minnesota. He is board-certified in Pediatrics and Primary Care Sports Medicine and cares for youth athletes in clinic and on the sideline.

Dr. Edwards is an award-winning physical activity researcher and has served as a principal investigator and co-investigator on multiple federally-funded research studies involving physical activity and its effects on child and adolescent health. He serves on the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness, which authors internationally recognized guidelines in the areas of youth sports and health.

ASPIRE

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