Stacy Shaw
There are many student athletes in western Prince William County who take their sports very seriously, but one serious injury can have them sitting the bench for an entire season.
To address this problem, Next Level Fitness & Performance in Haymarket will be offering a clinic for coaches and parents Feb. 22 from 1-4 p.m. about how to assess and prevent sports-related injuries and keep athletes on the field all season.
“Coaches have to amass a good deal of knowledge to succeed, and often their abilities are tested when they have to assess and make judgment calls about player injuries – especially during game time,” Next Level spokesperson Stacy DiRocco said.
Colby Schreckengost, owner of Next Level Fitness & Performance in Haymarket, regularly trains injured athletes trying to return to play. Seeing so many injured young athletes, he decided to take action to help prevent future injuries from occurring. “We have so many athletes that unfortunately only come to see us once they have gotten injured. Sadly, a good number of these injuries were preventable, while other injuries were exacerbated by over-use or return to play too soon,” Schreckengost said. As a result of seeing so many preventable injuries, Schreckengost has teamed up with other local experts to present a clinic for coaches and parents entitled: “Coaching Essentials for Athletic Performance and Injury Prevention.” The clinic will be held at Next Level and will feature three informative topics presented by local experts. In addition to seeing patients at
Novant Health Bull Run Family Medicine, Dr. Scott Ross, MD is also the team physician for the Osbourn Park High School Football Team, the Yellowjackets. He is uniquely qualified to present "Assessing In Game Injuries: Minor, Serious, or Potentially Life-Threatening?" as part of the clinic. Dr. Ross will help coaches identify and evaluate injuries and provide tips to help coaches look for potentially serious or life-threatening injuries. The first steps to coming back from injury often require physical therapy; Dr. Joshua Cole, of
Haymarket Physical Therapy and Chiropractic, has plenty of first-hand experience. Dr. Cole will present “Keeping Players on the Field: A Guide to Injury Prevention and Overuse Injuries.” Besides discussing the medical approach to keeping players in the game, Dr. Cole will be discussing getting them healed quickly and ensuring healthy players stay healthy longer through proper training and warm ups. He’ll also provide tips about the “Phases of Injury: When it is Safe to Play vs. Long-term Injury Risk.”
“We want to see fewer preventable injuries and with better information for coaches, that can happen,” Schreckengost said. With that in mind, he will be presenting: “Enhancing Athletic Performance: A Coaches Guide to Building a Better Athlete.” Schreckengost, who has a Division 1 coaching background and over 20 years of experience developing athletes, will provide coaches with the tools to get better performance out of their athletes and prevent injuries. He’ll also discuss on-field practice strategies for strength and conditioning, first-step quickness and change-of-direction drills, dynamic warm-up correctives and activation, as well as return to play post injury/surgery. The clinic will be held at Next Level Fitness and Performance located at 6620 James Madison Highway in Haymarket. Coaches or parents that are interested in attending should register early to ensure their spot:
www.NLTraining.com/clinics. Questions should be directed to 703-754-0161.
