A sports physio’s year in reflection
If you had told me at the start of the year that I would be travelling to Turkey to assist with the Australian BMX team or working with an AFLW team, I would have looked at you like you were nuts. How would I manage that with my own clinic to run, plus a young family to care for? How could I possibly fit anymore into my already very full schedule? But here we are at the end of 2023 and all these things did happen, plus so much more!
I started this year working with the Australian Tennis Association providing coverage for the Junior tours coming through Adelaide, as well as, managing the Sturt SANFLW team for my second season with them. I was then lucky enough to be taken to Turkey with the Australian BMX team for a week to be their onsite physio whilst the team competed in one of the World Cup series. Coming back to Adelaide meant jumping straight into the pre-season for the Port FC AFLW team. In between these bigger events I have been working with various athletes throughout the year to rehab them back to their full strength.
Working as a sports physio often sounds so glamorous. You are let into a world that precious few people get to see behind the scenes, you work with highly motivated people who are some of the best at what they do, from athletes to coaches to technicians to other medical professionals and you have access to a larger pool of resources. However, the non glamorous parts are the very long hours, the waiting around doing not much at times, the time away from home, often being thrown into situations that you definitely don’t expect and being not only physio but nurse, mum, team manager and general lackey.
But you do it because you love it! I love being in that fast paced environment where you often need to make quick decisions and decide what the best treatment is to enable an athlete to continue competing. I love working with the people who are highly motivated and are the best at what they do, I feel like I learn so much every time I am welcomed on to a new team or work with a different sport. I love hearing everyone’s stories and how they ended up where they are now. But most of all I love challenging myself and continuing to get better at what I love to do. Each team and each sport I work with, I bring something away to implement within my own practice at home. To make sure that I provide the best possible care to each and every individual, not only those at the highest level.