SCORE - Saving & Creating Better Athletes

Today is the official launch of our SCORE - Saving and Creating Better Athletes - program.   This program has been designed to give all school athletes tools to help them succeed in all areas of their lives.  The goal of the SCORE program is to create athletes who are not only better prepared to participate in sport and excel but also create athletes who are able to reduce the risk of injury and deal with injury and emergency situations if they do occur.

The SCORE program consists of the following. 

First Aid & CPR Certification 

In the case of any emergency having someone present who is able to perform CPR and       administer life saving first aid can be the difference between life and death.  Having these skills is not only applicable to those in sport but is a great life skill.  Student athletes will be certified in CPR, AED and First Aid.

Injury Recognition 

The importance of having first aid and CPR is great, however without the knowledge of how to recognize common sports injuries those skills are not useful.  We offer numerous injury recognition seminars including concussion recognition. musculoskeletal injuries, anaphylactic    reactions, spinal injuries, heat illness and medical episodes such as cardiac arrest, diabetes, and asthma.  

Sport Taping & Strapping

If you want to learn unique and practical taping techniques for most common sports injuries.  Participants learn proper taping procedures, when to tape and when not to, taping versus bracing, as well as have the opportunity to practice different taping techniques for all parts of the body.

Education Seminars 

Seminars will increase athletes awareness of health and safety topics. Participants will gain knowledge on how to perform at peak levels as well as knowledge to use in everyday life.  Topics include nutrition, injury prevention, drugs in sport and mental training skills such as goal setting.

Student Trainer Course

For those students who wish to expand their knowledge of sports medicine or who are wanting to pursue a career in sports medicine this is the place to start.  This course is comprised of three parts: First Aid and CPR certification, Sport Taping and Strapping and our Managing Injuries—A Trainer’s  Responsibility.

 By creating an athlete that not only has the skills to compete on the playing field or gym, but who now has the knowledge as to how injury prevention and management plays a role in athletic success.  The SCORE program truly makes athletes - student athletes as it gives direct education applicable to sport that they can carry over into every day life.

Please follow us on Twitter @EliteInjuryMgmt and check out our website www.eliteinjury.com 

Working with High Performance Minor Athletes Part 1

Continuing with our what is an Athletic Therapist series we will discuss the different settings that we can work in.  This week will be focusing on dealing with high performance minor athletes.  Not all Athletic Therapists work with professional teams, in clinics or in high schools.  Some of us have choose to or worked our way up by working amateur sport with young athletes.  Depending on the sport we have worked with kids as young as five all the way up to those at eighteen.  It may seem simple and cut and dry as you are not dealing with high expectations of the professional spot light,  however the pressure and demands that occur in minor sports is high.

Sometimes I wished I was dealing with adults, it would make life so much easier.  When dealing with players under the age of eighteen so many legal issues come into play.  You become their guardian while on road trips, they can not make their own medical decisions, you at times are their mother, best friend, prison guard and teacher.  You are dealing with hormone changes and mood swings, school schedules, and the pressure of playing high level sports.

One of the major things I found when dealing with minor athletes who were competing at high levels was the amount of time expected of them to participate in sport or sport related activities.  Depending on the sport your athletes are going anywhere from five to seven days a week, with training, practice, film sessions, mental training, oh yeah and school.  At times we treat these athletes who are as young as eight like professionals.  I find it funny that they keep talking about the student athletes in post secondary, every athlete under the age of eighteen is a student athlete, and I will tell you not many junior high schools and high schools are as accommodating as post secondary ones for their athletes.  The number of times I have supervised homework sessions, relearned chemistry and math is beyond me.  I do know I do not want to go back to high school.

You help the athletes with their homework but also educate them on aspects of being an athlete, such as proper nutrition, physical training and injury management.  You become not only a teacher to the athletes but to the parents, coaches, officials and administrators.  Many of these people may be new to the high performance levels and needs that these young bodies require to perform at their best.  You learn how to explain things in about four to five different ways.  Athletes and coaches want to know how to achieve success, but need it explained a bit differently.  Parents generally want what is best for their child, and if they have more than one child you soon become knowledgeable about all of them.  Officials be quite young and just starting out or veterans to the sport who may not be up to date on the newest information on health and injury management.  I have found the best way to educate administrators is to put it in dollars and cents, and liability.  They need to worry about the sum of the whole not just the individual parts, you need to be the one who bridges that gap for them.  

When dealing with injuries and medical issues the most important thing that I always had to remember is that you are making the decision not about how does the injury effect their sport life, but their overall life.  This should be how we treat all athletes but unfortunately it is not.  A fourteen year old has so much life ahead of him and even the smallest decision you make can effect how that life will be.  Consultation with parents is always a must, and their decision is the one that counts on what treatment occurs.  You can recommend what you want, but they can say yes or no to it.  When travelling or if the parents are not present you get to make these decisions but you must do so in the best interest of the athlete.

When starting this topic I knew there was lots to explain, but did not realize how much.  Please check back on Thursday for Part 2 of Working with High Performance Minor Athletes.

Also please check out our website at www.eliteinjury.com and follow us on Twitter @EliteInjuryMgmt