If you think you have an injury, or have pain that could limit the ability to participate fully, you should see the Athletic Trainer before you try to contintue to participate. By continuting to play on an injury or pain, you could cause further injury, resulting in a longer recovery. In a majority of cases, we can work to decrease the pain, or injury, while allowing participation on a limited level. The Athletic Trainer can also help in determining if a doctor's appointment is necessary, or if treatment and rehab can save you a trip to the doctor. IF you do see a doctor for care for your injury, a doctor's clearance note for return to participation will be required, (upon final assessment by the Athletic Trainer), as well as appropriate re-acclimate to sport safely. If the doctor has any restrictions or limitations, those should also be noted to avoid further injury. 

Return to Play after an Injury

When an injury occurs, we want to make sure student-athletes return to play as safely as possible, minimizing risk of recurrence. Therefore, return to full participation is at the discretion of the Athletic Trainer in coordination with the Coach.

As we work through rehabilitation and active rest from an injury, functional testing can aide in determining a safe return to sport. Functional testing could include but is not limited to: active and passive range of motion, strength through full range of motion, assesment of pain with any part of the manual evaluation, assessment of pain with any part of exertion (running, sprinting, jumping, back peddling, cutting, jump stopping, etc.), and athletic movements are normal in appearance or if they show apprehension/compensation. If functional tests are completed successfully, the AT will meet with Coach and reinforce the idea that the athlete needs to progress gradually, and as Coach builds up sport specific skills and conditioning, they will monitor for signs of pain, weakness, “unathletic” movement (compensation), etc.

If the student-athlete returns with a note from a health care provider clearing for full sports participation, the Atheltic Trainer will functionally test the student-athlete. This is to establish what level of return is safe by determining what movements can performed athletically and without pain, apprehension or compensation. The functional tests will be more comprehensive and sport specific verses in a clinic, (if a functional test was done clinically), due to the accessiblity to the full range use of sport specific facilities. Physicians will expect us as Athletic Trainers to judge from our expertise and tests for what limits, if any, may need to be set as the athlete progresses in their recovery in order to prevent reinjury or relapse.

Student athletes recovering from prolonged conditions like mono, the flu, post concussion syndrome, appendicitis, etc., should be monitored closely by the AT. These athletes, when cleared to return to activity, many times need many days of gradually increasing practice to relearn plays/strategies, regain strength and timing as well as build sport specific aerobic and/or anaerobic conditioning.

For any injury or illness, a practice progression to competition also allows the athlete to regain confidence and assist in recovery of any mental apprehension or anxitey.

If an athlete has been out of play for a period of time, the goal is to be able to return to play at the physical and cognitive level expected for that sport. Therefore, we will have the student-athlete participate in one full practice before they can return to competition play. The AT and Coach will discuss and agree on a probably competition date and again reinforce the idea that this athlete needs to work back into competition slowly, which might include limited playing time, ie: 2-3 innings, limited mintues, plays, or series.