The Bishop Ireton Girls’ Volleyball team finished the 2014-2015 season with a respectable regular season above .500 record, which they rode into the WCAC and VISAA playoffs. Coach Kathy Gutmann had much to be pleased about on the court with her team’s successes; but one area concerned her: a slight spike in injuries. “Volleyball is a very physically demanding sport on both the upper and lower body that requires quick explosive movements. With a tough schedule and one that was stretched into November with playoff runs, I think the elongated season took a toll on the girls’ bodies,” said Coach Gutmann.
Rather than sit back, she and the team decided to get proactive. “I talked with our athletic trainers to get their thoughts on what we could do. As a coach and team we want to continue our high level of play and maintain it for championship runs. We can’t do that unless the girls remain healthy,” said Gutmann. Timing was on her side as the Bishop Ireton Sports Medicine Department recently partnered with Angela T. Gordon, PT, DSc, MPT, COMT, OCS, ATC.
Ms. Gordon is a Physical Therapist for Patriot Sports Medicine and she is the team physical therapist for the Washington Nationals Major League Baseball team. In coordination with Bishop Ireton athletic trainers, Ms. Gordon worked to introduce injury prevention programs to Bishop Ireton athletics. In the winter, Ms. Gordon and her team of PT’s gave injury prevention seminars, performed injury screenings, and then implemented preventative exercises based on their findings to both the Bishop Ireton girls’ lacrosse team and the baseball team in preparation for their spring 2015 campaigns. Successes were seen with both programs and the athletic training staff was happy to reach out to Ms. Gordon to extend her services to the volleyball team.
“As a sports medicine department we are always trying to find ways to elevate the care we provide our athletes not only through our own services but by utilizing the expertise of others in the field,” said Matt Horton, Head Athletic Trainer at Bishop Ireton. “The chance to work with Angela Gordon gave us the opportunity to do just that.” Horton continued, “With Angela’s physical therapy services, the recent addition of certified strength and conditioning specialists, and two full time athletic trainers working under the supervision of an orthopedic surgeon, we here at Bishop Ireton are able to provide a team approach to the overall well-being of our student-athletes that is often seen at only the collegiate and profession levels.”
The volleyball team is currently in phase 1 of the exercise implementation phase mastering the beginning injury prevention exercises. From there, they will head into phase II by midsummer, and will have completed the program by the start of the season where they hope all of their hard work will have paid off.
“It has been a great year working with the staff here at Bishop Ireton. The athletic trainers and AD have put in a great deal of time and effort to get this program off the ground. They are fully committed to having the best sports and sports medicine programs in the area. The coaches and athletes have the passion and commitment that is essential to producing a successful injury prevention program. The whole team commitment at BI makes my job easy and I am proud to work with them all,” said Angela Gordon. Bishop Ireton will be continuing their partnership with Ms. Gordon through the 2015-2016, expanding her services to several of the other teams at 201 Cambridge Road.
