U19 Lacross World Champs in Finland: Report from Adey, England Team Physio
It’s Adey Saunderson‘s first year as part of TheTriTouch team, providing Sports Physiotherapy services at our Sigma Sport clinic (from 15th October 2012) and in Plymouth at the PhysioConditioning clinic. If you rode The HotChillee Sportive in March or The London-Paris in June, you will remember him as part of our therapy crew.
In March 2012, Adey was asked to assist the England U19’s Lacrosse Team as Team Physiotherapist for the U19’s Lacrosse World Championships in July, in Turku, Finland. Adey worked alongside their well established sports therapist and sports science support team for 5 months, attending a number of weekend training sessions:
“Before we knew it, the time arrived for us to grab our gear and depart for Finland. The tournament was to be held over 2 weeks with all the teams sharing various accommodation and training grounds. My role for the coming weeks was to work closely with the sports therapist to provide rapid and effective assessment, diagnosis and management of any injuries or ongoing issues the players may have. I also lead the pitch-side medical cover during the games and as a medical team we were responsible for other medical issues which may arise as there was no Doctor with the team.
Over the 14 days, we had morning stretch and activation along with evening stretch and warm down every day. We trained twice a day for the first 4 days, then the games begun. In 10 days of World Class Lacrosse we played 7 games, unfortunately losing our final game to Iroquois Nations to come a well deserved 4th, with Canada 2nd and USA taking top spot. With such an outstanding level of competition England’s elite were pushing themselves further and harder.
During games time we had various issues ranging from calf strains to ankle sprains, shoulder pain and knee pain. As we were limited to the number of players we could take out, any injury that might sideline a player would have been a big blow. Correct management of injuries was key, with the one of the most vital things of all, rest, being the hardest thing to achieve during a tournament like this. However, medical team and management staff worked hard and well together, in order to provide optimum recovery for those that needed it.
Soon enough it was all done and we were heading home, thankfully over the 14 days we didn’t suffer any injuries that required removing an athlete from the rest of the tournament. All the players got the most out of this experience and performed at their top level. The whole tournament and build up was something I thoroughly enjoyed and look forward to future involvement.”
