The Importance of Athlete Management

The time has come once again, the start of the school year and another Fall sports season. Students and coaches are full of energy to start back up after a refreshing couple of months off which typically includes plenty of rest, reduced muscular strain, diet changes, increased screen time, and much more. The question is, is this a good thing? Rest is always an important factor when out of season, but too much rest and not enough active movement can put the body at risk for injuries early in the fall season. Student athletes tend to begin their seasons deconditioned, which in addition to the increased heat of late summer, excitement of players and coaches to start back where they left off, and a short 2-week preseason can all be culprits of overuse injuries early on.

Preseason in late August is tough on the human body. During this time, athletes are not only being asked to work on conditioning drills, sport specific skills, or team chemistry, but they are constantly battling with the increased heat. Acclimatization is the process the human body must take to adapt to new environments such as weather, altitude, or humidity. It is important that coaches take the time and consideration when it comes to preparing their players early on for this. In Vermont, the period of having increased heat is much lower compared to other states and some years Vermonters may not even see more than a handful of 90 plus degree days this late into Summer. It is because of this that our athletes should focus even more on acclimatization as our bodies have such few chances to play in this weather.

Some ways to help athletes acclimatize include:

• limiting the amount of time you are actually going 100%
• break up workouts frequently with adequate water breaks,
• start with light activity and progress to more challenging ones
• eat regularly spaced-out meals
• replace electrolytes
• add both time and intensity gradually over the span of the two-week period.

Coaches also play a role in injury risk reduction. The majority of the players returning to the field are not in the same shape as when they left their final game in the previous year. It is crucial to start everyone back at square one and only progress intensity in increments. Off season workout sessions, camps, and time in the weight room can all impact how quickly the athletes can return to max intensity during preseason. Keeping optimal rest periods in mind is beneficial as well with balancing out high cardio days with some light skill-oriented practices.

Lastly, only relying on the two-week preseason schedule to get back in shape will greatly increase the athlete’s chance of injury. Many student athletes in this generation take advantage of increased screen time at home, which reduces the amount of physical activity they engage in, plus they have different diets during the summer. Focusing on proper nutrition, getting outside to run, bike, hike, play pick-up games with friends, or go swimming all summer long will decrease injury risk during the season.

Trying to do some form of physical activity for at least an hour a day can go a long way in prepping for the season. Moreover, limiting the amount of snacking you do especially while you’re in front of a screen playing video games can improve your diet. Staying consistent with mealtimes and eating enough protein, carbohydrates, dairy, fruits, vegetables, and limiting unhealthy fats will make the body ready to tackle preseason.

In the end, it is a team effort by coaches, players, and parents to ensure student athletes return to the field in proper condition for game one of the fall season. Keeping these things in mind will help to reduce the risk of injury from poor acclimatization efforts, improper early season conditioning training, and suboptimal nutrition decisions.

Joey Gaspar, ATC, is an Athletic Trainer at the Vermont Orthopaedic Clinic, a department of Rutland Regional Medical Center. Joey is the head Athletic Trainer at Mill River Union High School.