Volleyball (activity, Apparel Or Equipment)
Twenty years of CPSC NEISS emergency-room records for this consumer product category, combined with demographic breakdowns, multi-year injury trends, and matching recall notices.
Sports & Recreation Equipment · CPSC Code 1266
Down 16% over 5 years
The verdict
Volleyball (activity, Apparel Or Equipment) carry a danger score of 39/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 53,639 ER-treated injuries a year that are declining by about 16% over the last five years.
- 39/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 53,639
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 1.1%
- end in hospital admission
- 15-24
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1266 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 39/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for volleyball (activity, apparel or equipment) - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume53,639 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)1.1%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend-16%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Volleyball (activity, Apparel Or Equipment) (CPSC product code 1266, in the Sports & Recreation Equipment category) generate an estimated 53,639 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 1.1M ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 39/100 for this category (low risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are declining by about 16% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2024 (63,560 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2020 (23,597 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for volleyball (activity, apparel or equipment) is strain, sprain to the ankle, accounting for approximately 202,905 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by strain, sprain to the finger (64,813 cases). The 15-24 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 475,003 cases over the NEISS window, and females appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 1.1% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 2 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how volleyball (activity, apparel or equipment) fail in real households. Every figure on this page comes from CPSC-published data: NEISS projects national estimates from a probability sample of about 100 U.S. hospital emergency departments, while SaferProducts.gov collects voluntary reports from consumers, manufacturers, and clinicians. The danger score, trend indicators, and demographic breakdowns update automatically when CPSC releases a new yearly NEISS file, which is why this page is dated 2024-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2024)
Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only
Who Gets Injured?
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-4 | 1,268 | 295 | |
| 5-14 | 69,398 | 276,117 | |
| 15-24 | 146,078 | 328,925 | |
| 25-34 | 55,000 | 48,053 | |
| 35-44 | 41,862 | 35,076 | |
| 45-54 | 24,574 | 17,509 | |
| 55-64 | 8,721 | 8,030 | |
| 65-74 | 4,614 | 3,215 | |
| 75+ | 2,437 | 1,379 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Ankle | Strain, Sprain | |
| Finger | Strain, Sprain | |
| Knee | Strain, Sprain | |
| Wrist | Strain, Sprain | |
| Finger | Fracture | |
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Head | Concussion | |
| Knee | Other | |
| Shoulder | Strain, Sprain | |
| Foot | Strain, Sprain | |
| Ankle | Other | |
| Lower Trunk | Strain, Sprain | |
| Ankle | Fracture | |
| Shoulder | Dislocation | |
| Lower Trunk | Other |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
12 YOF STRUCK IN BACK OF HEAD PLAYING VOLLEYBALL AT SCHOOL DX INJURY HEAD
15 YOM WAS PLAYING VOLLEYBALL AND FELT PAIN TO LOWER RIGHT LEG. DX: KNEE PAIN
13YOF KNEE PAIN WHILE PLAYING VOLLEYBALL DX: ACUTE PAIN OF RIGHT KNEE
45YOF WS PLAYING VOLLEYBALL WHEN SHE CAME DOWN HARD ONTO LEFT KNEE NOW KNEE SWOLLEN DX: EFFUSION LEFT KNEE
15YOM WITH SHOULDER PAIN AFTER PLAYING VOLLEYBALL DX: DISLOCATION OF RIGHT SHOULDER JOINT
17YOF IS ON THE HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL TEAM AND FOR THE LAST COUPLE WEEKS AFTER PRACTICE HAS BEEN EXPERIENCING PAIN IN LOWER BACK DX: SPONDYLYSIS OF LUMBAR SPINE
14 YOF C/O RIGHT RING FINGER PAIN AFTER HITTING FINGER ON BALL WHILE PLAYING VOLLEYBALL, DX: RING FINGER SPRAIN
15YOF WAS AT VOLLEYBALL PRACTICE WHEN SHE TWISTED HER RIGHT KNEE DX RIGHT KNEE PAIN
67YOM,ELBOW INJURY TODAY WHEN PLAYING BEACH VOLLEYBALL,ARM INJURY,DX:ARM INJURY
17YOM WITH FRACTURED FINGER IN VOLLEYBALL DX: FINGER FRACTURE
52YOM WITH FRACTURED FINGER IN VOLLEYBALL DX: FINGER FRACTURE
12YO UNK *** PATIENT, DURING VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT GOT STRUCK TO FACE WITH SPIKED BALL, NO LOSS OF CONSCIOUS, DEVELOPED NOSE BLEED AND HEADACHE, DX: CLOSED HEAD INJURY
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
Litania Sports Group sold a volleyball referee stand to [REDACTED] in Georgia (among others) that was assembled incorrectly by team members before a match. After one and one half hours of play, a member of one team (while traversing behind the stand in order to change sides of the contest, per protocol) pulled on one of the stand supports causing the stand to collapse, severely injuring the referee. This case is still being litigated/settled. It is unlikely that any judgment/settlement regarding Latania will cause them, or their Chinese manufacturer, to effect design changes that would provide a "failsafe" mechanism to protect anyone standing on the stand from suffering the same or even more serious injury or death.
8 year old boy playing with volleybal pal unsupervised wrapped the product around his neck and was found unresponsive.
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to volleyball (activity, apparel or equipment) on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are volleyball (activity, apparel or equipment)?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, volleyball (activity, apparel or equipment) have a danger score of 39/100 (low risk). An estimated 53,639 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from volleyball (activity, apparel or equipment)?
The most common injury is strain, sprain to the ankle, accounting for approximately 202,905 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from volleyball (activity, apparel or equipment) increasing or decreasing?
Down 16% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for volleyball (activity, apparel or equipment) injuries?
The 15-24 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 475,003 cases recorded over 20 years. Females are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by volleyball (activity, apparel or equipment)?
Of all ER visits involving volleyball (activity, apparel or equipment), approximately 1.1% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (98.9%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with volleyball (activity, apparel or equipment)?
You can file a consumer incident report at SaferProducts.gov, the official CPSC reporting portal. Reports help the CPSC identify emerging hazards and trigger investigations or recalls. You can also call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.
Related Products in Sports & Recreation Equipment
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 39/100 score as relative risk between products, not your personal odds of injury.
- See where this category ranks against every other tracked product. Full rankings
- Injuries cluster in the 15-24 age group, take extra care if that describes your household.
- Check for active recalls on this product before you assume it is safe. CPSC recalls
NEISS estimates ER-treated injuries from a national probability sample of hospitals; they do not capture injuries treated elsewhere or not treated at all.
Data: CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments. This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, scored, and verified.
