HILLSBORO, OR – Discouraged with seeing young athletes suff ering from preventable injuries, Impact Physical Therapy owner Kent Bond, PT, and his staff developed a free program designed to prevent injuries, optimize athletic performance, and encourage early injury detection and intervention.
Called “Keeping Kids on the Court,” the program was developed for young athletes participating in court sports within the greater Hillsboro area. Currently, the program is being provided as a free service to the Wave Volleyball Club, a club for teen volleyball players in western Washington County.
“With most sports, we don’t see the athletes until after they’ve become injured,” said Bond, a licensed physical therapist for 25 years.
“What’s frustrating for the physical therapist is when you see something that was preventable – when there were imbalances and asymmetries within the athlete’s musculoskeletal system that could have been identified and corrected before the season began.” Therefore, “Keeping Kids on the Court” offers all Wave Volleyball Club athletes free pre- and postseason Functional Movement Screens that serve to pinpoint such musculoskeletal deficiencies. Performed by the staff at Impact Physical Therapy, the result of each screen will be presented to the athlete and her parents/guardians along with injury prevention and training recommendations relating to the findings.
“Our goal is to share the results and say, ‘Hey, listen, now it’s your responsibility to do these stretches and these functional core exercises to help keep you away from a physical therapist,’” Bond said.
But since injuries are bound to occur on occasion, “Keeping Kids on the Court” will also provide Wave Volleyball Club athletes, coaches, and parents with free access to injury consultations and training recommendations by a licensed physical therapist, both during and after the volleyball season. According to Bond, shoulder, ankle, and knee injuries are common with volleyball players.
“We know the quicker you get on top of an injury, the quicker you can recover,” he said. “So we want to take away the stress and the worry of trying to see a doctor. And if formal intervention is necessary, we’ll certainly facilitate that whenever we can.”
Bond’s wife, Anna – also the business manager at Impact Physical Therapy – is a volleyball coach with the Wave Volleyball Club, which was established in 2009. The Bond’s two daughters each participated in the club before graduating high school, so the need for injury prevention and performance services grew apparent over the years.
“There’s a significant need here, as well as at other youth athletic clubs,” Bond said. “Clubs don’t wield the same resources as schools, so we at Impact Physical Therapy felt a duty to fill this void in injury prevention services.”