It’s been proven time and time again that one way to improve student success is through involvement in some form of extra-curricular activity, whether that be art, music, theater, academics or athletic participation.
To help coaches, parents and athletes understand their roles in building that success, Bothwell Regional Health Center and University of Central Missouri Athletic Training will host a free sports medicine clinic next week at Smith-Cotton High School.
The event, co-sponsored by Sedalia Laser Pain Center, Elite Orthopedics/Antrex and Styker, will emphasize the importance of health and nutrition in the lives of student-athletes and how that can in turn be used to optimize performance.
“We all have a few very special teachers and coaches in our past that we still look up to that have been significant influences in our lives and our philosophy of living,” said Dr. Douglas Kiburz, moderator and one of the organizers of the event. “We wanted to make this opportunity available to everyone because the sports team is not just the athlete and coach and trainers and doctors.
“It includes the parents, often grandparents, assistant coaches and strength trainers, equipment managers, teachers, administrators, sports psychologists, really every specialist in the medical field can play a role depending on the needs of the athletes,” Kiburz added. “Much of the focus of the clinic will be on prevention because we know it is much easier to stay out of trouble than it is to get out of trouble once injured.”
One key to prevention of injury and one of the main topics at the conference will be nutrition.
“Thomas Edison, who was born in 1847, once said, ‘The doctor of the future will cure and treat disease with nutrition,’” Kiburz said. “The focus on nutrition isn’t a new idea but putting that philospphy of ‘don’t live to eat but eat to live’ should be.
“We’re not focusing on the latest diet trends but rather focusing on the individual’s whole life and the role nutrition plays in that,” Kiburz added. “I was speaking with a champion state wrestler the other day who told me that the secret to success in any sport is nutrition, adding that once he began to focus on that it put him over the top in his sport.”
Other topics at the clinic will include:
• Trends and issues in health screenings for student-athletes including updates from the 2016 Berlin Conference on Concussions.
• Strength training and muscle plasticity do’s and don’ts.
• ACL prevention techniques.
• Return to play considerations for student-athletes.
• The influence of positive coaching in athletic success.
“Coaching is not just a job but it’s a calling in providing a positive role model and guide through the game of sport and the game of life,” Kiburz reflected. “Our keynote speaker is Rick McGuire, who will bring a lot of good things to the table.”
McGuire, a legendary track and field coach at the University of Missouri-Columbia, devoted 30 years to the sport coaching conference champion athletes in addition to All-Americans and Olympic athletes.
“He (McGuire) has won a number of national awards in both coaching and his work as a sports psychologist,” Kiburz said. “I think everyone will be interested in his presentation and discussion.”
Kiburz added that sports and coaching teach kids a number of life lessons that are beneficial to all, including how to be a team leader as well as a team player, self-discipline and how to deal with pressure, time management, respect for self and others, and that life is not always fair.
“There will be a special appearance from the four-legged comeback athlete of the decade,” Kiburz hinted without revealing more details. “They will be there to illustrate the point that it isn’t where you start it’s where you finish.
“Ultimately we are responsible for ourselves and success requires sacrifice and discipline,” he added. “We’re going to pack a lot of useful material in a short time span and it’s my hope everyone will take advantage of this opportunity to learn from our experts.”
The clinic will be hosted from 7:30 a.m. to noon Saturday, July 20 at the Smith-Cotton High School Auditorium in Sedalia.
The event is free and open to the public but advance registration is requested. To register, visit brhc.org/sportsmedicineclinic or call 660-829-8855.
