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Objectives Sport injuries in youth sports are common, and holistic predictive approaches have been called for to better understand how combinations of risk and protective factors contribute to injury occurrence. This study utilises a person-centred approach to identify how combinations of psychological and physical factors are associated with injuries in youth floorball players.

Methods At season start, 222 youth athletes conducted physical field tests and measures of self-reported mental health and demographics. Postseason, participants reported any sustained acute or overuse injuries during the season. Latent profile analysis, using psychological (anxiety and depression) and physical (field test performance) factors, such as input variables, was employed to identify risk profiles. Covariate analysis was conducted with demographic predictors of profile membership. Finally, sport injury occurrence was compared between profiles.

Results Three profiles were identified: ‘Moderate mental health/high physical performance’ (profile 1, n=101), ‘Very low mental health/average physical performance’ (profile 2, n=49) and ‘High mental health/low physical performance’ (profile 3, n=72). Athletes injured at baseline were less likely to belong to profile 1. Profile 1 had higher injury occurrence than profile 2 (OR=3.63, 95% CI (1.34 to 9.81)) and profile 3 (OR=2.63, 95% CI (1.06 to 6.47)) during the season.

Conclusion Our results indicate that players in the profile characterised by moderate mental health and high physical performance (profile 1) at the start of the season, reported the highest injury occurrence during the season (based on retrospective injury reporting). Future studies should explore factors that can explain this relationship, such as engagement in risk situations, load and recovery.

Teachers and coaches are key figures in promoting and sustaining injury-preventive behaviors among youth athletes. Although previous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of injury prevention interventions in floorball, little is known about how these practices are implemented in elite floorball high schools. This study explored how teachers in school sports at Swedish certified elite floorball high schools integrate injury prevention into everyday coaching, focusing on their experiences and strategies. Semi-structured interviews with 15 teachers across Sweden were analyzed using qualitative content analysis to identify themes and underlying categories. Our analysis resulted in one overarching theme: "Facilitating students' development to become their own best coach," reflecting teachers' efforts to strengthen autonomy and competence through progression in injury-preventive training. Three sub-themes captured this process: navigating challenges and opportunities in the school-context, promoting students' own learning and sense of responsibility, and leading with intentionality. Teachers varied exercises, used open communication, and encouraged responsibility, while managing a major challenge—helping students balance total load from school training, club training, and academic stress. Findings highlight injury prevention as an inherent part of the school sport context and underscore the need for coordinated efforts among teachers, team coaches, and sport federations to manage athlete load effectively. These insights offer practical implications for coaching practice and contribute to critical reflection on how pedagogical strategies can support both performance and well-being.