Clinic helps educate coaches |
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Graycen Colbert | The Sun
Dr. Dan Johnson, a clinical neuropsychologist, addresses area coaches at the St. Bernards Sports Medicine seventh annual coaches clinic Wednesday evening.
| By Ben Cowens
Sun staff writer
JONESBORO — For the third consecutive year St. Bernards Sports Medicine hosted a summer coaches clinic at St. Bernards Auditorium. While Wednesday’s clinic was free of charge, it provided potentially invaluable information to the 40-50 high school coaches in attendance.
“The reason we started our summer coaches clinic is there was so much good information ... being put out there by sports medicine entities,” said Andy Shatley, director of sports medicine at St. Bernards. “We realized our local coaches were not being fed that information.
“As area leaders in the field of sports medicine, we felt obligated to relay that information.”
Wednesday’s event featured several 20-minute informative presentations designed to give coaches a basic knowledge on topics ranging from concussion management to lower leg injury prevention to identifying sources of back pain.
This year’s clinic added a new wrinkle — hands-on demonstrations. A pair of current Arkansas State athletes were on hand to demonstrate proper stretching and lifting techniques. Dr. Jeremy Swymn also used ASU quarterback Phillip Butterfield to outline a technique for resetting a dislocated shoulder.
Dan Johnson, a Ph.D and chief executive officer of Brainpower Consulting who has worked extensively with National Football League teams, presented a detailed presentation on head trauma. He outlined several levels of head trauma and the corresponding symptoms, and made every effort to explain the dangers of even mild concussions. Johnson also gave the coaches a list of steps to follow when assessing when an athlete is ready to return to play.
Craig Cummings, a longtime volleyball coach at Arkansas State and now the head volleyball coach at Jonesboro High School, said the information he received on Wednesday night was applicable. He recounted examples of players he’s coached who have suffered injuries identical to those discussed on Wednesday night.
“It all relates. (As coaches) you know exactly what is going on,” Cummings said. “It’s very real life.
“It’s important because it’s the welfare of the student athletes you’re dealing with and their health. You don’t want to put them in a situation that puts them at risk. You want to err on the side of caution.”
The experts on hand did their best to disseminate important information to their attentive audience. Now it’s up to the coaches to continue the chain of communication in the coming months.
“We try to keep everything fresh and go over something new every year,” Shatley said. “We always hear the comment, ‘I didn’t realize that,’ from the coaches. Hopefully they can take that information when the season starts and apply that (knowledge) to their teams.”
bcowens@jonesborosun.com
Copyright 2010 Jonesboro Sun
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