Introducing Our New Leadership
President
Dr. Nicola Phillips
Wales, UK
Nicki Phillips worked as a clinician for 16 years prior to joining the academic staff at Cardiff University, School of Healthcare Studies. She completed a MSc in Sports Injury and Therapy in Manchester Metropolitan University in 1996 and a PhD in functional coping in ACL deficiency in 2004. She now organises the post-registration and post-graduate programmes within the school, with a specific involvement in running the MSc Sports Physiotherapy programme.
Awards:
International Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS) European Travelling Fellowship recipient 2004.
Professional activities:
President of the International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy
Vice President, Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Sports Medicine
Chief Physiotherapist for Team GB for Beijing Olympics
Member of editorial board of Physical Therapy in Sport
Reviewer:
Physical Therapy in Sport
British Journal of Sports Medicine
Journal of Sports Science
Journal of Athletic Training
Nicki is also serving as the chair for the Registration Board, as well as the Educational Services Team and Professional Development and Awards Committees for IFSPT.
Treasurer
Gordon Eiland, PT, MA, SCS
United States
After years of working for rehabilitation facilities in Texas, for the past year and a half Gordon has been an independent contractor/travel therapist. He recently completed assignments in Phoenix, AZ and Traverse City, MI. He has just begun his next assignment: Physical Therapist at the new American Chinese Hospital in Shanghai, China.
Gordon is serving his second term as the Treasurer for the Sport Physical Therapy Section, APTA.
Gordon is the chair of the IFSPT's Administrative Services Team, and as a member of the PR/Marketing and Professional Development Committees.
Secretary
Maria Constantinou
Australia
Maria Constantinou is an Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) titled Sport Physiotherapist and a Fellow of the Australian Sports Medicine Federation (FASMF). Maria worked as a Sports Physiotherapist at a number of major sporting events including the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympic Games, Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games, Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and the Pan Pacific Masters Games in 2008 and 2010.
Maria has served on a number of committees of the Australian Physiotherapy Association and Sports Medicine Australia organizations. She is the current Sports Physiotherapy Australia representative to the International Federation of Sports Physiotherapy (IFSP). Maria is a Lecturer at the School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science, Griffith University, Gold Coast campus. Her interests include musculoskeletal assessment and management of sporting injuries. Maria has presented at a number of international and Australian sports medicine and physiotherapy conferences, symposia and professional development events. One of Maria's interests is the international advancement of the sports physiotherapy profession. Maria is also interested in life-long learning in the physiotherapy profession which includes the facilitation and convening of postgraduate studies and the use of reflection in clinical practice.
Maria has a number of publications including the book Therapeutic Taping for Musculoskeletal Conditions which she co-authored with Mark Brown in 2010. Maria's research interests include the neuromechanics of hip joint osteoarthritis, which is the focus of her current PhD studies.
Maria is serving on the Research and PR/Marketing Committees for IFSPT.
Members-At-Large
Bente Andersen, PT, MSc, DSSPT
Denmark
Bente is a senior lecturer at the Metropolitan University College, Copenhagen, School of Physiotherapy, teaching all aspects of physiotherapy to the students. She is responsble for the students' bachelor process and projects. Bente also takes part in both research and development projects in rehabilitational and Sports Physiotherapy.
Bente is the physiotherapist for the Danish Taekwondo Association and the National Danish Taekwondo Team. She served as a member of the medical team organizing the medical staff for the World Championships in Copenhagen in October 2009, which included Anti Doping work and controls. For a period of ten years, Bente was a physiotherapist of the National Danish Cricket Team and the National Danish Judo and Ju-Jitsu team.
Bente was a staff physiotherapist for the National Danish Olympic team in both the Olympic Games in 2004 in Athens and in Torino 2006, and attended several European Youth Olympic Festival. She is a member of the Danish Sports Physiotherapy Association, planning the post graduate courses for Sports Physiotherapists in Denmark as well as serving as an examiner during testing.
Bente is the chair of the Governance Services Team, and serves on the Ethics, Nominating, Professional Development, Membership, and PR/Marketing Committees.
Mario Bizzini, PT, PhD
Switzerland
Mario Bizzini, PT, PhD is a research associate at the Schulthess Clinic, a private orthopedic and sports medicine center in Zürich, Switzerland.
He works there for the orthopedic department (lower extremity, www.schulthess-klinik.ch) and for the FIFA Medical Research and Assessment Center (F-MARC,
www.fifa.com/medical). He earned a Master of Science degree (MSC) from the University of Pittsburgh (School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, UPMC Center for Sports Medicine, 2001), and in August 2010 he finished his doctoral study (PhD) at the Oslo Sports Trauma and Research Center, Norwegian School of Sports Sciences (Oslo, Norway).
His research interests focus on hip and knee rehabilitation in sports, football injuries and sports injury prevention. He has currently published 35 peer-reviewed papers, 5 books, 7 book chapters, and lectured at more than 130 national and international congresses. He is a reviewer for various scientific journals, and is Associate Editor of the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy (www.spts.org/ijspt).
He is also a specialist in sports physiotherapy and committee member of the Swiss Sports Physiotherapy Association (www.sportfisio.ch), and of the International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy (www.ifsp-world.org), a rehabilitation consultant for professional ice hockey and football teams, and has also worked at three FIFA World Cups - Germany 2006, China 2007-women, South Africa 2010 - and at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Mario is chair of the Membership Services Team and the Scientific Congress Committee, and is a member of the PR/Marketing Committee.
Tony Schneiders, Dip Phty, PGCertTertT, PGDipManipTh, MSc, PhD
New Zealand
After graduating with a DipPhty from Otago Polytechnic in 1986, Tony worked as a physiotherapist in various hospital and private practice settings before returning to full-time study in 1991 in Manipulative Physiotherapy (PGDipManipTh) at Curtin University in Western Australia, where he also worked as a Musculoskeletal Teaching Fellow.
Tony subsequently pursued further postgraduate education at both Curtin University and the University of Otago, respectively obtaining an MSc(Phty) and a PGCertTertT, and completed his PhD at Otago in 2006.
Tony joined the Otago School of Physiotherapy as a lecturer in 1995 and has since been awarded the Vadoott Cup (Best Lecturer Award) three times.
Tony has both a sports and manipulative physiotherapy focus. His specific research interests include sports injury/prevention, sports-related concussion, athlete screening, biomechanics, exercise prescription, exercise compliance/adherence issues, balance, laterality, and low back pain.
Tony serves on the Research, Professional Development, and Scientific Congress Committee, and on the IFSPT Registration Board.
Craig Smith,
BSc, BSc Hons
South Africa
Craig Smith is a South African Society of Physiotherapy (SASP; SA) and Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP; UK) registered physiotherapist interested in sport. Craig graduated from the University of Cape Town with a BSc Physio (1988) and a BSc Hons Sports Science (1989) and immediately began physio work in professional sport and cricket. Craig spent 11 years with the South African cricket team from 1991 - 2002 and a further 8 years in Country Cricket with Lancashire (first team physio), Nottinghamshire (lead physio) and Hampshire (consultant physio) from 2003 - 2010. Craig has alos worked in rugby, soccer and tennis.
Craig started his business, Club Physio in 2003, which facilitates seminars, courses and conferences in Southern Africa, Europe and the Middle East / Asia. Craig is the current Chair of the South African Sports Physio Group and represents SA on the IFSPT Executive Board.
Craig serves as the PR/Marketing Committee chair for the IFSPT, and on the membership committee.
