News & Views

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

The 30th Anniversary Annual General Meeting of SportMedBC marked a proud year for all of us associated with our organization, especially in September of 2012 when it brought together many of the people who have led and shaped our professional network for parts or even all of the past four decades.

That pride shines through me as I look back at my own 30 years with SportMedBC and the privilege that I’ve had to serve you and our network as chief executive. 

For me, it’s been a personal and professional honour to literally grow up with SportMedBC as it evolved and developed from its founding in 1982.Thirty years is a professional lifetime for many people but I’m as passionate as I’ve ever been about SportMedBC, our people, the practices we promote and the programs we deliver. 

Given that it’s the only full-time commitment I’ve made over the course of my career, making any kind of change after all these years is something that I do not take lightly. It’s something I would do more readily if I could find a way to build on my work with you at SportMedBC. It’s also something that I would not do without the most careful of consideration, planning and transition.

To that end, I wanted to confirm that, effective January 1, 2013 and announced officially today, I have taken on the role as Chief Operating Officer of Fortius Sport & Health, with leadership responsibilities for the Fortius Athlete Development Centre and the Fortius Institute resident within it. 

FORTIUS - Co-Founder Cannell Named COO of Fortius

In the same breath, however, I wanted to confirm that I plan to build on the special circumstances and scope of my tenure at SportMedBC, to remain formally connected with our work in sport medicine, sport science and sport training in the weeks, months and years to come.

Over the next six to eight months, I will continue to provide a strategic consultation role as sport system veteran Marilyn Payne, from Marilyn Payne Consulting, is going to be working with staff and Board on a part-time, temporary basis to provide leadership and advisory service as part of the transition. 

I’m of course pleased to be able to play this transitional role as Strategic Advisor on the strength of two key factors: 1. Our two organizations will be joint resident at the Fortius Athlete Development Centre; and 2. We will be working together on a number of initiatives given the Premier Founding Partner status SportMedBC holds with Fortius.

This would only be possible with the encouragement of the SportMedBC Board of Directors – to whom I will forever be indebted to for their support over the past 30 years – and the kind cooperation of our new partners at Fortius Sport & Health. Thank you and here’s to continuing to make the most of our opportunities to work together in the future.

It’s been my absolute pleasure to work for and with the Best People, Best Practices and Best Programs in Sport Medicine, Sport Science and Sport Training!

Sincerely,

Lynda Cannell

Check out The Province's coverage of SportMedBC's injury prevention and performance program, SportSmart. 

By Larissa Cahute

The importance of a warm-up is constantly drilled into those involved in sports and fitness training.
But it turns out some coaches are leading them ineffectively.

"These days people are still just doing a couple laps and then sitting in a circle and holding their stretches for 30 seconds, which is completely what you don't want to do as a warm-up - you want to get the body moving and active," said SportMedBC's sports safety co-ordinator, Seb Hartell. "They're using the wrong stretches at the wrong time.

"You want to do dynamic stretching and a dynamic warm-up."

Noticing this habit in soccer clubs and associations across the province, SportMedBC developed SportSmart: a program on sports injury prevention and performance delivered to players, coaches and parents with a 90-minute workshop.

"I've noticed working with athletes - even high-level athletes in their 20s - I see a lot of people having a lot of bad sport performance habits," said Hartell, adding that a lot of it comes from what players learned in soccer clubs.

And bad habits are tough to break, so Hartell is hoping SportSmart will help instil good habits from a young age.

"Parents and coaches actually play a big role in development and establishing these habits," he said. "So these habits that people are learning when they're five, six, 10, 15 years old are carrying over for many years in sports."

The workshop goes over specific injury prevention such as ACL and ankle sprains, as well as safety procedures such as how to set up an emergency action plan for lightning or tips for environmental injuries that can occur when it's too hot or cold.

But the biggest problem Hartell tackles is still the warm-ups, which play a big role in injury prevention.

"The whole conventional wisdom of holding your stretches for 30 seconds - to do that head to toe for every muscle or every part of the body - (with a) five-or 10-minute stretching session, by the time you've done that your body's cooled down," he said. "So to go out and start running again - your body's not ready to do that."

The most common injury this leads to is muscle strain - especially the hamstring.

"To get up and start sprinting and cutting, they're not going to be as coordinated or their muscles won't be active to perform the movements flu-idly and efficiently," said Hartell.

He suggests running a few laps to get the body moving and the heart pumping so blood and oxygen get to the muscles, then heading into dynamic movements such as leg swings, toe touches or lunges.

The movements are performed against the player's body weight, so the exercises are simple enough to be adapted at the youngest age levels.

Another common mistake Hartell notices among players and coaches is overall technique.

"You see people at the gym all the time - people are squatting and they're bending their back, they're just using improper form for easy and simple movements."

"It's great to learn (this) properly early on so they can continue to have these habits for the rest of their life."

- The Province

Be sure to check out our FREE SportSmart Webinar on ACL injuries. 

This 25 minute Webinar will focus on sharing medical and scientific information about the Anterior Cruciate Ligament in an easy to understand format. We'll take an in-depth look at: 

- The ACL’s role in the body.

- How ACL injuries occur. 

- Acute injury identification and management.

- Simple exercises that can be done to help reduce the risk of injury.

Webinar #1:  Best Practices in Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injury Prevention Techniques and Treatments

Date: Wednesday, November 7th, 2012 – 6:30PM

REGISTER HERE

If you happen to miss the webinar, it will be made available in the Webinar section in our SportSmart Resources & Tools page on the Safety Network.

SIGN UP FOR SPORTSMART

For more information, contact Seb Hartell, SportMed Safety Coordinator - sebh@sportmedbc.com or 604.903.3884.

The Sport Branch of the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development is pleased to announce the mission staff for the 2013 Canada Summer Games in Sherbrooke, PQ. The team is a mix of veterans and rookies and geographically represents the province of BC.

“With less than a year to go before the Games in Sherbrooke, we are confident we have the group that will give Team BC its greatest chance at a best ever finish,” said Team BC Chef de Mission, Rob Needham.

“Our mission staff represents all spectrums of the sport system here in BC and in the next few months, we will be focussed on giving sports the support they need in their preparations for Sherbrooke.”

Mission staff are the team behind the team who support the sports in their quest for podium finishes. They are volunteers in the community who use their vacation time and professional development allotments to ensure the needs of Team BC are met.

SportMedBC Safety Coordinator Seb Hartell (left) has been named to the Team BC mission staff. 

The Sport Branch also announced that Eric Chene has been selected as the Operations Manager for the 2013 Games.

“Eric brings a wealth of experience to Team BC,” added Needham. “I'm confident his dedication and commitment will ensure Team BC is optimally prepared to support our athletes and coaches in their preparations for Sherbrooke 2013.”

Chene’s experience over the last 10 years includes working with the Rick Hansen Foundation, VANOC, the Canadian Paralympic Committee, the Canada Games Council and Diving Canada. He has worked at five of the last six Canada Games in various capacities.

As Operations Manager, Chene is responsible for working closely with the Provincial Sport Organizations and overseeing logistics such as transportation, accommodation and accreditation.

“I am extremely passionate about the Canada Games movement and cherish the opportunity to be a part of Team BC,” said Chene. “I look forward to working with the sports and helping Team BC achieve a top result in 2013.”

Held every two years, alternating between winter and summer, the Canada Games are a key event in the developing years of Canada’s amateur athletes. As the best in their respective age groups in the Training to Compete phase of the Canadian Sport for Life Model, these competitors come to the Games having trained long and hard to be among those chosen to represent their respective province or territory and compete for medals and the Canada Games Flag.

The 2013 Canada Summer Games will be held in Sherbrooke, Quebec Aug. 2-17, 2013. The Games will bring together approximately 4,500 athletes, coaches, managers and officials with participation from every province and territory in Canada. Sports include: athletics, baseball, basketball, canoeing, cycling, diving, fencing, golf, rowing, sailing, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, triathlon, volleyball and wrestling.

For more information about the Team BC program, visit Team BC. 

Team BC Mission Staff

Carolynn Boomer – Kamloops (PacificSport Interior BC)

Marc Bowles – Penticton (Canadian Sport Centre - Pacific)

Eric Chene, Operations Manager – Vancouver (University of British Columbia)

Michelle Collens, Assistant Chef de Mission – Vancouver (BC Pavillion Corporation)

Keven Dubinsky – Vancouver (BC Alpine Ski Association)

Dave Freeze – Kamloops (Ripple Rock Consulting)

Seb Hartell – Vancouver (SportMedBC)

Judy Joseph-Black, Assistant Chef de Mission – Gabriola Island (Sport Branch, Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development)

Ali Lee – Victoria (University of Victoria)

Kate McNeil – Victoria (Canadian Sport Centre Pacific)

Eron Main – Richmond (Rowing BC)

Rob Needham, Chef de Mission – Vancouver (Canadian Paralympic Committee)

Callum Ng – Richmond (BC Athlete Voice)

Jarret Poitras – Victoria (Camosun College)

Lisa Shaw-MacLaren – Prince George (Prince George 2015 Canada Winter Games Host Society)

Jennifer Scott – Richmond (Richmond Olympic Oval)

Laura Watson – Port Moody (viaSport)

Danielle Williams – Burnaby (Skate Canada - BC/YT Section)