| Throughout the course of a soccer season a great many accidents and injuries can be expected to occur. This is natural and not a problem. What is very important is how we handle this all-to-common situation. Injuries should be prevented whenever possible. Quite simply this means two things. First, proper stretching is essential. Stretching must be done with regularity and with enthusiasm. The most common injuries in soccer are pulled or strained muscles, i.e. improper stretching. Second, we must be in good physical shape. Our muscles need to be strong and our hearts and lungs must be up to the physical demands of a soccer match. This is why running is such a large part of practice and why summer workouts are so important to the team. When you are tired you are more likely to do things in a sloppy manner, and to play passively. Both of these will increase your chances of injury. In short, if we are prepared before each practice and game we can greatly reduce the amount of time we spend in the training room. Unfortunately, the training facilities here at Logan Elm are not state-of-the-art. The training room itself is very small and our training staff works very hard to keep everyone healthy. But, with a shortage of space and personel (especially in the busy fall sports season), this is a difficult thing to achieve. As a team we need to reduce the burden that we place on the training room staff and facilities. Too often the training room becomes a social enviornment where players of various sports come to escape the more physically demanding parts of practice. This is not what real athletes do. If it is possible to avoid going to the trainer you should. A good example of this is ankle tape. In 99% of these cases an ankle brace will do the same job. Get yourself a good ankle brace and save the time and money it takes to tape your ankle. Always ask the trainer if there is anything he/she could recommend to reduce your time in the training room and increase your time at practice. We need to be very clear, any and all injuries are to be treated with great seriousness. However, we need to treat our commitment to this team with equal seriousness. If the trainer cannot administer treatment to you when you are in the training room you need to rejoin the team at the practice field, immediately. You can ask the trainer how long it will be until you can get your treatment and then return when you anticipate there will be an opening for you. Once you have recieved your attention you need to immediately rejoin the team for the remainder of practice. To summarize, if you are not recieving the trainers attention for your injury, then you need to be at practice with your teammates. This season the training staff has requested that players not experiencing a serious injury wait to visit the training room until AFTER practice. In the past we have had problems with abuse of the training room and much confusion about how the injury situation should be handled. Remember that you joined the soccer team, not the training team. Avoid injuries whenever possible to do so, this means proper preparation before practice and games. If you are injured, take care of your injuries and treat them seriously, get your treatment and return to practice. If you are not injured, then stay away from the training room and get yourself to practice. BACK TO HOME |