As part of a continuing series VSA will routinely profile one of the top level professional trainers employed here in town. This issue's  trainer is Mike Ford  By Jim Schade, Director of Coaching.

Mike Ford grew up nearby in Atco, NJ. As well as becoming a State Cup finalist with his club team he was a 4 year letter winner at Camden Catholic HS. He began his college career at Camden County College and excelled extremely quickly. Making All-Conference, All-Region and NSCAA/Adidas All-Mideast as well as team captain. After moving to Richard Stockton College the flood of accolades continued. Receiving more MVP's than we have room for and culminating with a National Championship.

Having had so much success as a player it would be easy to see other areas of life neglected, but successful people are rarely narrow minded. Mike Ford emerged uniquely qualified to begin a coaching career. With a degree in psychology and elementary education and a penchant for helping kids he began gaining valuable experience. After 10 years of working as a trainer, wrestling coach, soccer camp director, college coach and school teacher, I was very happy to have him placed as head of the girls U8 program overseeing the development of both teams. Mike Ford's simple philosophy of emphasizing teamwork and fair play, through age appropriated games and activities, putting the focus on long-term player and child development not short-term goals fit's perfect with this role.

• Remove the athlete from play. Look for signs and symptoms of a concussion if your athlete has experienced a bump or blow to the head or body. When in doubt, keep the athlete out of play.

• Ensure that the athlete is evaluated by a health care professional experienced in evaluating for concussion. Do not try to judge the severity of the injury yourself. Health care professionals have a number of methods that they can use to assess the severity of concussions. As a coach, recording the following information can help health care professionals in assessing the athlete after the injury:
  • Cause of the injury and force of the hit or blow to the head or body
• Any loss of consciousness (passed out/knocked out) and if so, for how long
• Any memory loss immediately following the injury
• Any seizures immediately following the injury
• Number of previous concussions (if any)

• Inform the athlete's parents or guardians about the possible. Make sure they know that the athlete should be seen by a health care professional experienced in evaluating for concussion.

• Keep the athlete out of play the day of the injury and until a health care professional, experienced in evaluating for concussion, says they are symptom-free and it's OK to return to play. A repeat concussion that occurs before the brain recovers from the first-usually within a short period of time (hours, days, or weeks)-can slow recovery or increase the likelihood of having long-term problems. In rare cases, repeat concussions can result in edema (brain swelling), permanent brain damage, and even death.