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She can usually be found on the touchline at Ochilview Park, home of Scottish Division two team Stenhousemuir FC but Society Member Jenna Orr was recently called upon to lend her Sports Therapy skills to support the Scottish Schools’ Football Association (SSFA) U.18 team in a friendly match against Australia U.18s.
Jenna’s skills as a Graduate Sports Therapist were known to the Scottish Schools’ FA, having previously worked with the SSFA Girls U.15 squad for 6 years, and together with her work and experience in professional football, they made her a great choice to support the team.
Asked what the transition was like from working with professional players, the UCLan Graduate said:
‘It’s obviously very different from being involved with a team on a regular basis. We had time prior to the game for pre match preparation and we also did a cool down after the game.’ Thankfully there were not too many on the field incidents during the game but Jenna did recall one incident where one of the players took a knock and concussion protocols came into play. Jenna said:
‘In this case while I was able to carry out the required procedures I did have to adjust my questions slightly. Normally you would ask a player his or her name but as I hadn’t worked with the team before and didn’t know the answer, it was important to react to the situation. So I asked questions like who were we playing, what was the score so as I could make a sound judgement. Thankfully the player was fine to carry on.’
In a hard fought match played at the Scottish Junior football club Renfrew FC, the Scotland team went down 1-0; Australia scoring in the 80th minute.
Life is definitely busy for Jenna. Her role as Head Therapist at Stenhousemuir FC is on a part-time basis covering training nights, match days and providing additional support as and when needed and she also puts her Sports Therapy knowledge to further use in the week, working part-time as an Administrative Assistant in The Society of Sports Therapists’ Head Office in Glasgow.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]