The speakers from the conference line up for a photograph. IFSPT President Nicola Phillips and IFSPT delegate Carlo Ramponi are shown at center. 

Southern Italy's elegant town of Lecce welcomed Sports Physiotherapists from the "Bel Paese" for the "1st Advances in Sports Rehabilitation: the Shoulder" Seminar. The event was organised by IFSPT Member Gis Sport and marked an important step towards accredited Sports Physiotherapy practice in Italy.

Carol Ramponi greets attendees. 

IFSPT President Nicola Phillips and Raphael Rinaldi demonstrate practical exercises. 

International and Italian speakers discussed current trends in the rehabilitation of shoulder disorders in swimmers and tennis players. Interventions from Sports Medicine and Sports Science specialists kicked off the day before guest speaker Raph Rinaldi and IFSPT President Nicola Phillips shared their thoughts on Sports Rehabilitation planning through practical and video demonstrations.

The audience showed palpable enthusiasm throughout the day and expressed keen interest in tangible examples of IFSPT competencies in clinical practice. To this end, GIS Sport President Carlo Ramponi briefly outlined the necessary steps to establish a satisfactory accreditation system in Italy that is expected to get activated within the next year.

On 19 October, a group of international experts on sports injuries were invited to a breakfast meeting to share their thoughts on current concepts on sporting injuries.

This event was hosted jointly by the International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy (IFSPT), Sports Medicine Australia (SMA) and Sports Physiotherapy Australia, immediately following the Sports Medicine Australia BeActive 2014 Conference in Canberra. In attendance were Dr. Juan-Manuel Alonso (Sports Physician, ASPETAR, Qatar), Professor Craig Purdam (Australian Institute of Sports), Professor Gordon Waddington (University of Canberra), Professor Anthony Schneiders (Central Queensland University and IFSPT Executive Board Member), Dr. Mario Bizzini (Schulthess Klinik, Z�rich, Switzerland, FIFA Research Centre and IFSPT Executive Board Member), Dr. Alex Donaldson (Federation University Australia), A/Professor Mark Brown (Griffith University and Sports Medicine Australia), Nello Marino (CEO Sports Medicine Australia), and Maria Constantinou, APA Sports Physiotherapist, FASMF (IFSPT Secretary).   

Each guest was asked, "Based on the current available evidence and your expertise, what is the main thing you would like to advise health professionals to do in order to better manage sports injuries?"

The responses and discussion highlighted a broad range of possibilities, with each of the viewpoints as equally valid as the others. This served to remind all of those present of the diversity of effective sports injury prevention and management interventions available, and the need for ongoing research and evidence based guidelines to assist sports medicine practitioners.  

Communication was a strong theme emerging from the discussions, with Dr. Schneiders stressing the value of appropriate and individual advice to athletes and Nello Marino discussing the importance of assuring that messages about athlete wellbeing filter down from practitioners to coaches and clubs. Professor Brown's main point was that "you can't manage what you can't measure," and the need for improved broad- based sports injury surveillance, especially in sub-elite and community level sport.

Each of the points raised by the speakers stimulated further discussion, and resulted in broad consensus, with the main themes that emerged for management of elite and community athletes focusing on prevention of injury; communication among health professionals, the coach and the athlete; clinical management of sporting injuries; training load management; drugs in sports; and the importance of continuing education. These recommendations to health professionals are summarised below. 

Summary of Discussion and Recommendations to Health Professionals for Management of Elite and Community Athletes

1. Prevention of injury is better than cure

2. Communication between health professionals, the coach and  

    athletes

• Find common language
• Health professionals to discuss athletes' expectations with athlete and coach.
• Health professionals dealing with the coach must work in partnership and deal with all influences on the athlete eg team and society
• Health professionals must work with the coach to have well defined training loads during competition and training.
• In recreational athletes, health professionals must deal with the athlete if there is no coach.

3. Clinical management of sporting injuries

• Do no harm
• Be evidence based
• Prevent too early return to play
• Treat each injury as it presents individually. There are different subsets of each injury that may define how we manage them. Everyone is quite individual so we do not use a recipe approach.
• Make an accurate diagnosis to lead to appropriate management.
• There is value of the advice given to the athlete. E.g. In acute phases know the limitations.
• Prognosis is to be tailored to athlete's work, with relevant boundaries, treating athlete as an individual.
• Understanding neurological and motor control aspect is important for the individual in the process of rehabilitation. Process of rehabilitation is to include neurological and musculoskeletal systems, motor control and to understand their relationship eg think of the muscle as part of the brain; for instance proprioception is a deeper unconsciousness of the musculoskeletal system.
• Athletes need to listen to their own body.

4. Training Load Management

• Develop a simple message about training load and keep it fundamental.
• To address training load the three Ms may be used: Measure, Monitor, Management; you can't manage what you can't measure. It is important to incorporate:
• Good sports injury surveillance to establish incidence and severity of injuries
• Load measurement; Relevant understanding is required and use of meaningful and appropriate outcome measures.
• Advise for community coaches to understand load measurement better and how to monitor load.
• Advise for junior athletes and their parents to understand load management and their responsibility to monitor load, especially given that younger players are less resilient with similar loads.
• Elite coaches and athletes are able to assess load management with various tools available to them. This does needs to happen in community sport too, where there are developing athletes who may be participating in multiple teams and events.
• Develop recommendations on quantification of appropriate load. Developing training load guidelines is still in early stages, but this needs to be a future research direction.
• The expertise and competencies in training load monitoring varies. There needs to be a collaboration from coaches and a strong commitment from health professionals to educate coaches of children. This needs to be a joint effort. Sports Physiotherapists can start the process but it needs a strong interdisciplinary collaboration and it needs to be directed and supported by sporting associations.
• SMA agreed to publish a Load Management issue of Sports Health.

5. Drugs in Sport

• All athletes and athlete support personnel must be knowledgeable in banned substances.

6. The community level athlete

• There needs to be a system analysis for communication to help identify optimal ways to get the message filter from practitioners to coach and sporting clubs.
• Level of care for community level athletes is variable at the ground roots and they may not be receiving optimal care.
• There is less support for athletes at the community level, so the message may need to be directed at the individual athlete.

7. Education

• For health professionals
• It is important for health professionals and coaches to be educated regarding the consequences of sporting injuries, their prevention and management.
• General practitioners whom the athletes visits may not be as familiar with musculoskeletal conditions and would need to upskill in this area.
• Information disseminated needs to be relevant to health practitioners. There is information available from relevant professional associations that can be accessed.
• Health Professionals to share education with colleagues
• Health Professionals can communicate to researchers areas they may need to be targeted in research.
• Access IOC position statement on Youth injury and health prevention, BJSM
• For the community
• Professional Associations have a responsibility in helping the community understand what the best level of treatment is expected for athletes.
• Physiotherapists to provide education to the community
• Educate coaches and carers of children regarding training loads.
• Physiotherapists deal with elite and developing athletes, junior athletes and at community level. There is a need for health professionals to receive and share information and use appropriate tools. Some freely available tools with valuable information are:
• FIFA 11+
  website http://f-marc.com/11plus/home/ (http://f-marc.com/11plus/downloads/  (free material to download)
• IOC Get Set - Train Smarter App (with FIFA11+ integrated) (Available for iPhone and Android) (DOWNLOAD for ANDROID or iOS)
• Oslo Sports Trauma and Research Centre Injury preventionhttp://www.klokavskade.no/no/Skadefri/  http://www.ostrc.no/Default.aspx?epslanguage=EN (Norwegian, and working on an English version)
• Aspetar Journal (Free) http://www.aspetar.com/journal/
• BJSM blogs and podcasts: http://bjsm.bmj.com/
• Australian Institute of Sports resources http://www.ausport.gov.au/
• NCAA (National Collegiate Athletics Association) http://www.ncaa.org/
• Sports Medicine Australia Sports Health magazine http://sma.org.au/publications-media/sport-health/

Attendees of the breakfast meeting with Australian physical therapists. Back row: Nello Marino, Alex Donaldson, Gordon Waddington, Tony Schneiders; front row: Craig Purdam, Juan-Manuel Alonso, Maria Constantinou, Mario Bizzini, Mark Brown.

During the last two weeks of October, IFSPT Executive Board member Mario Bizzini traveled across Australia. Sports Medicine Australia (SMA)...a special thanks to Nello Marino, CEO...organized a series of presentations on sports injury prevention in four cities. Maria Constantinou (IFSPT secretary) and Mark Brown (SMA) were also actively involved in making this "Australian Roadshow" a reality.

Canberra, the capital, was the first stop, for the "BE ACTIVE" 2014 SMA conference. This conference attracted hundreds of sports PTs, physicians, scientists and others in the sports medicine field. A visit to the world-renowned Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) was hosted by Craig Purdam, head of PT at AIS.

 Sculpture in the AIS park.

Indoor basketball court at AIS.

Sydney was the next stop, with its iconic Opera house and vibrant harbour area. After a visit to the 2010 Olympic Park, the NSW Institute of Sports at the Ian Thorpe Theatre hosted a seminar. Kate Beerworth, Head PT of the Australia Women's Soccer National Team, called "The Matildas," was also among the speakers.

Kate Beerworth (Head PT of the Australia Women's Soccer national team) and Mario Bizzini, after the seminar in Sydney.   

Soccer stadium at the Olympic Park in Melbourne.

  Melbourne is know as Australia's sports city: an incredible Olympic Park, with world class facilities such as the Rod Laver Arena and Cricket/Australian Rue Football stadium. The seminar was held in the Olympic Room at the AAMI Park, with co-speakers Dr. Andrew Jovett, Head of the Olympic Park - Sports Medicine Centre, and Dr. Alex Donaldson, ACRISP research fellow. Paul Visentini, one of the leading sports PTs Down Under, kindly took some time to show the speakers around Melbourne.

Mario Bizzini (IFSPT) with the  the ACRISP research staff.

With Alex Donaldson, Mario also visited the Federation University Australia, at Ballarat, approximately 100 km outside Melbourne, a former 1850's gold mine town. Now the city is mostly known for its Australian Centre for Research into Injury in Sport and its Prevention (ACRISP), with world leader Dr. Caroline Finch in injury prevention research.

Brisbane was the final stop, with an event at the Queensland Sports & Athletic Centre, coordinated by locals, Maria Constantinou and Mark Brown.  

Before heading back to Sydney, a stop at the Griffith University, a mandatory visit to the Gold Coast (which will host the next Commonwealth Games in 2018), and a koala & kangaroo encounter were on the program.

The Australian Roadshow was an excellent opportunity for IFSPT to network with many Australian sports PTs. IFSPT is looking forward to expanding the impact of sports physical therapy Down Under!

 

• January 22-24, 2015
• Radission Blu Scandinavia Hotel
• Copenhagen, Denmark
• Speakers:
• David Felson, US
• Teppo Jarvinen, Finland
• Ewa Roos, Sweden
• Bill Vincenzino, Australia
• Per Holmich, Denmark
• Stefan Lohmander, Sweden
• Johannes Tol, Netherlands
• Michael Kjaer, Denmark
• Grethe Myklebust, Norway
• Peter McNair, New Zealand
• Karen Silbernagel, Sweden
• And many more exciting speakers!
• For more information, click here 

The Finnish Sports Physiotherapist Association presents Prevention: Mission Possible 2015
In cooperation with the IFSPT

• 20-22 March 2015
• Helsinki, Finland
• This is an inaugural international sports physiotherapy conference in Finland, presented in cooperation with the International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy. Today in sports physiotherapy, the importance of sports injury prevention programs and preventive strategies are recognised as determinant in therapeutic strategies. Therefore it is obvious that injury prevention and illness in sport is an important focus of sports physiotherapy as well.
• Speakers
• Phillip Glasgow, Northern Ireland
• Kati Pasanen, Finland
• Nicola Phillips, Wales, and president of the IFSPT
• Ann Cools, Belgium
• Lee Nobes, England
• Mario Bizzini, Switzerland
• Cormac O Muircheartaigh, Singapore
• Rajat Chauhan, India
• Marie-Elaine Grant, Ireland
• Carl Askling, Sweden
• Christian Thorborg, Denmark
• Jouko Heiskanen, Finland
• Sami Kalaja, Finland
• Matti Vartianen, Finland
• Sarah Mottram, UK
• Fredrik Johansson, Sweden
   
• Registration now open! Follow this link!   

The 8th World Congress on Science and Football is a multidisciplinary congress focusing on five codes of football: Soccer; Rugby; and Australian, American and Gaelic Football. The congress will highlight the newest research results, methodologies and applied approaches.

The congress, to be held May 20-23, 2015, expects to attract more than 500 participants from all over the world. We hope to gather international scientists from the natural, human and social sciences, as well as practitioners, to exchange knowledge and participate in a dialogue on both mono- and multidisciplinary aspects of football.

We are pleased to announce that the 8th World Congress on Science and Football in 2015 has opened for:

• Registration for WCSF2015.
• Submission of abstracts for WCSF2015

Several speakers are confirmed, and abstracts are invited within the overall themes:

• Physiology, biomechanics and sports medicine.
• Social sciences and humanities. 

Link here to find out more about the congress' scientific and social programme as well as registration and abstract submission.

Flyer 

PLAN NOW TO ATTEND!

IFSPT 2015 General Meeting and Symposium: In Conjunction with the Swiss Sportfisio Conference Return to Play

• General Meeting: Thursday, November 19, 2015
• IFSPT/Swiss Sportfisio Conference: November 20 and 21, 2015
• Exciting international speakers!
  • Ben Clarsen, Norway
  • Mark De Carlo, USA, former IFSPT board member
  • Phil Glasgow, UK
  • Havard Moksnes, Norway
  • Tony Schneiders, NZ - IFSPT
  • Jan Shrier, Canada
  • Kristian Thorborg, Denmark
  • Tim Tyler, USA
  • Kevin Wilk, USA
  • Erik Witvrouw, Qatar
• Save the Date! Registration opens mid-January. More information to come. Follow this link. 

Attention Member Organizations:  

Are you sponsoring a physical therapy, sports physical therapy or sports medicine conference in 2014 and 2015?  

Please send the information regarding your conference to Mary Wilkinson, IFSPT marketing director, for addition to the IFSPT newsletter and website! Newsletters are published each month, so please submit your material as early as possible. You are also welcome to provide updates as your event draws closer!  

WCPT will be holding congresses more frequently under plans designed to make the world's most important physical therapy event more accessible to all the Confederation's members.

WCPT's Executive Committee is making the announcement after two years of study. Since its establishment in 1951, WCPT has held congresses every four years, but the Executive Committee believes that a two-year interval between congresses will enable today's Confederation to better fulfill its objectives, serve its member organisations and move the profession forward globally.

"We're very excited about the change," said Marilyn Moffat, WCPT President. "In a world where clinical and professional knowledge advances so fast, it will give physical therapists around the world more opportunity for regular information exchange and learning. It will also mean that twice as many WCPT member organisations will have the opportunity to host a congress and create visibility and opportunity for the profession in their country and region."

Most of the 16 WCPT congresses held since the first in London in 1953 have been held in areas of high population to ensure high attendance and financial stability. Given the growth of WCPT, the Executive Committee believes that the congress needs to be more accessible to a greater proportion of its members. It has listened to the views of many member organisations in taking this decision.

"Today WCPT represents a very diverse and geographically spread membership," said Marilyn Moffat. "Many physical therapists simply do not have the resources or time to travel large distances to a WCPT Congress. Holding a congress every two years increases the likelihood that there will be a location that is reachable and affordable for all. This in turn will increase the rate of learning and knowledge transfer in the profession globally."  

Under the new proposals, congresses may alternate between locations which attract good numbers and those where large numbers cannot be guaranteed but there is a clear case for hosting the congress on professional grounds. "In this way, we believe we can better meet the needs of members," said Marilyn Moffat. "Of course, the financial stability of WCPT is also on our minds, and we believe this new pattern will result in a more stable foundation for the Confederation."

The change will start immediately, meaning that after the 2015 congress in Singapore another will be held in 2017 and then another in 2019. Work has now begun on planning the 2017 congress - and because the extra congress interrupts the normal four-yearly congress bidding process, the Executive Committee is considering possible venues on the basis of feasible past bids. The call for proposals for 2019 is about to be sent out.

"Most other international professional associations hold more frequent congresses than WCPT," said Margot Skinner, WCPT Executive Committee member from the Asia Western Pacific Region. "In coming to this decision, we've collected evidence and conducted detailed analyses of risks and benefits. A biennial congress makes financial and strategic sense for WCPT, and allows us to fulfill our objectives more effectively."