Maggie
There’s a physio behind that medal
and she’s one of our own!
Yesterday Silver medalist Viviane Forest won a bronze in the Women’s alpine giant salom event at Whistler. Forest was in fourth place after the first of her two runs, but was taken away by ambulance for medical assistance and physiotherapy after re-injuring her pulled groin. She returned to the event to win a bronze for Team Canada. The physio who helped her get back on track was BC sport physio Maggie Phillips-Scarlett.
Maggie Phillips-Scarlett has been working with the Canadian para-alpine ski team team since 2005, initially as the strength & conditioning coach but is now as their team physiotherapist. The team consists of 13 athletes, men and women. There are 3 categories including visually impaired, standing (ie. amputees,), and sitting (ie. spinal cord injuries or congenital birth defects). She admits there is a huge array of injuries to manage.
Maggie describes her experience with the team:
Our team trains year round~ when not on snow, they do an intensive dry land program which includes both strength and cardiovascular training as well as pre-hab training to prevent injuries. This is paramount particularly for the disabled athletes because there are so many over-use issues (ie. stump sores, rotator cuff streings.etc).
We’ve had a 4 year plan building up to 2010 so now that it’s here, it’s pretty exciting and at times, overwhelming. There is a different feel for 2010 vs. 2009…the intensity and pressure is increasing and it is felt on all levels! We have just returned from 3 weeks of racing on the world cup circuit in Europe. We had some amazing days and some awful days~ a good awakening of what Whistler could be like. There will be lots to deal with both emotionally, mentally and physically.
Overall though, the team is really excited and looking forward to putting their goals into action. We’ve all worked really hard to be where we are and all we can hope for is some good luck and that the hard work pays off!
On a personal note, Maggie says that working with the team has made her a better physio for a number of reasons. In her words:
1. It has made me very much aware that an impairment is not a limitation.
2. I now know that I’m never going to solve an injury/disability but if I ‘think outside the box’, more often than not, I will be able to figure out a solution that can help the athlete perform better at life and sport.
3. There’s no ‘cookie-cutter recipe’ for treatment~ everyone is an individual and has to be treated with this approach.
4. The value of listening is paramount. When I started with the team, I had very little experience with athletes who had disabilities~ but I vowed to listen and stay very open to learn from them for what their bodies’ required both from a training and a physio stand point. More often than not, the client always knows their body best~ so listening to their concerns is crucial for a successful treatment.
Maggie Phillips Scarlett completed her Honours of Kinesiology in Athletic Therapy at Acadia University(2000), Masters of Kinesiology in Sport Science at the University of Calgary (2004), and Masters of Physical Therapy at the University of British Columbia in 2007. When not traveling with the team (ie. 2 wks/month), Maggie works part-time at Reach Physiotherapy Solutions in Squamish, BC.
Note: I love these stories. Yesterday I emailed Maggie about writing a post based on the article she wrote for the sportphysio.ca website back in January. I knew she was up at Whistler and hoped she would be checking her email. When she replied with the ok, I asked if she knew the physio who was behind the Forest story (I had heard about it on CBC radio this morning). From her mobile phone she simply replied “oh that physio was me”.
Congrats to you Maggie and to the para-alpine team!
Read more about Viviane Forest‘s Bronze medal win in the Vancouver Sun. ‘Tough cookie’ Viviane Forest doesn’t crumble, wins her second
source:Vancouver Sun
medal of Games
Vivian (left) is pictured here with guide Lindsay Dubou
