Head athletic therapist Nadine Smith works on women’s varsity soccer playerJennifer Crichton
( Photo: Brier Dodge )
Author’s note: After three surgeries and 15 months, I am finally cleared to play sports after a bad skiing accident. I want to thank everyone at the Athletic Therapy Clinic and physiotherapy office for getting me back, helping me walk again, and listening to me complain about casts and crutches.
Most people realize that almost every athlete, at one point or another, has been injured.
But what most do not know is the hours of work it takes to get an athlete back on the field and the people behind their recovery.
Carleton’s varsity athletes aren’t just bandaged up by anyone. Carleton’s Athletic Therapy Clinic treats varsity and competitive club athletes year round.
Head athletic therapist Nadine Smith is joined throughout the year by five other therapists. Carleton’s varsity teams are assigned primary therapists who cover practices, games and tournaments, as well as treat the athletes.
Smith, for example, treats the men’s soccer team. She estimated 75 per cent of varsity athletes are treated at some point, but certain teams like soccer and basketball have almost every athlete walk or limp through therapy doors.
“I would say 100 per cent of our team has been treated at some point or another,” said Karl Wasslen, men’s soccer goalkeeper, who is currently recovering from knee surgery for his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
The Athletic Therapy Clinic treats Carleton’s varsity and club athletes, unlike the physiotherapy clinic, which is open to all of Carleton and the community.
Athletic therapy is more specialized than physiotherapy.
Physiotherapists deal with respiratory and cardiac issues, and non-athletic related injuries.
Athletic therapists deal with orthopaedic problems — things like sprained ankles, broken wrists and torn ligaments, Smith said.
Athletic therapists do more sport-specific treatments that focus on the skills and motions athletes need.
They are also more hands on and aggressive, said Smith.
The education required to become an athletic therapist varies.
Smith, for instance, took human kinetics at the University of Ottawa and then got her certificate in athletic therapy from York University. She then took a master’s in sport psychology consulting.
Regardless of specific training, most athletes would agree that many therapists know how to do much more than simply treat a direct injury.
“It’s actually been studied that recovering from a major injury is similar to grieving a death,” Smith said.
The daily grind of being a student-athlete and recovering from all types of injuries, ranging from hamstring tears to ACL surgeries, makes the clinic a tightly-knit community.
“I like the close-knit feeling of all the varsity athletes,” Smith said.
“It’s a family type of feeling. You see them go on a rollercoaster ride.”
“[Smith] is like my mom, but better,” joked Heather McKim, a varsity women’s soccer player.
“And my best friend,” added Jennifer Crichton, also a player on the women’s soccer team, as Smith worked on her leg.
“[The therapists have] all done a lot for me, a lot more than just treatment of injuries,” Wasslen said.
Even after athletes graduate, they still come back to check in at the clinic and see familiar faces.
“It’s like they never left,” said Smith.
Example: Osvaldo Jeanty, a former Raven’s basketball captain who now plays professional basketball in Germany.
Back in Ottawa for the summer, Jeanty still comes to the clinic for treatment with the therapists he worked with during his time at Carleton.θ