The third in the hugely popular SST 2021 webinar series focused on working with the adolescent athlete; specifically, how medical teams manage performance and aim to reduce injuries. The format for this particular webinar was a panel discussion and was very ably led by Society Director Ashley Jones, Senior Lecturer in Sports & Exercise Therapy at Leeds Beckett University. Jen Wilson, Programme Leader at the University of Derby, stepped in to manage the event and direct the Q and A session. The three panelists were Society Member, Dr Dale Forsdyke, Senior Lecturer at York St John University with applied work in Regional Talent Club (RTC) football for York City FC and with Great Britain Goalball; Paul Bower, Physical Performance Lead, Huddersfield Town Football Club Academy and Dom Rae, Head of the Academy Medical Department, Huddersfield Town Football Club. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen personal circumstances Dr Stacey Emmonds was unable to attend on the evening.
Ashley Jones had developed the plan for this particular webinar and he explained his thinking behind it. He said:
‘Many of our Graduate Members may start their careers working with young people or in Academy set ups, so we felt it was a worthwhile topic to explore and discuss with a panel of experienced practitioners in this area.
‘A phrase that was used in the webinar was, ‘children are not mini adults’, they must be treated as individuals. The adolescent athlete presents with different issues to the adult athlete; skeletal maturity being one and personal maturity another. This is a different population that needs to be explored in its own right’.
Each of the speakers offered a different take on the subject and complemented each other very well. Ashley explained:
‘Dom Rae has experience as a medical professional in boys Academy football set ups. He provided some comprehensive information surrounding physical maturation and baseline screening techniques that could be used to identify injuries and monitor performance in young players.
‘Paul Bower was invited for his experience of Academy boys’ football at club and international level, as a Physical Performance Coach. He provided some great insights into the way we need to manage players from an emotional perspective. He also talked about the relationship between performance and medical staff and also coaches, when thinking about player training load, and the impact this will have on player performance and injury risk .
‘Graduate SST Member Dale Forsdyke works with girls in academy level football. He was extremely insightful in his discussion around both physical and psychological performance monitoring. He gave some really useful anecdotal advice about how boys and girls may differ and the need to look at them individually. He also suggested that we look at the amount of activities children do on a weekly basis rather than when they are with the club.
‘Dale also provided some useful insights into psychological readiness to play, how we monitor that and also how we look at movement screening before resuming training and play, in order to try and reduce injury. He referred to this as the ‘Movement Passport.
‘There was a lively discussion in the final part of the session, with some excellent questions from the audience. While the speakers didn’t always agree; they built on each other’s discussions, as to why some things were different depending on the environment and players they were working with.’
If you were unable to watch the webinar on the evening you can view it here: